ESSIE PEABODY 
ROTHINGHAtW 







Class 



S^^ 



Book. .F7 i- 



Gopght]^'" 



COFfRIGHT DEPOSm 



SEA-WOLVES 
OF SEVEN SHORES 




Taking advantage of this accident, Blackbear^v^^: 

pistol 



SEA-WOLVES 
OF SEVEN SHORES 



BY 

JESSIE PEABODY FROTHINGHAM 



ILLUSTRATED BY 
ALDEN KITTEREDGE DA WSON 



CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 
NEW YORK .-..•..•. 1904 



.f7S 



SEP 24 1904 

OL;^ (^ XXo. No. 



COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY 
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 



Published Sbpteilbeb, 1904. 



Norhjooti iprfss 

J. S. Gushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith Co. 

:Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. The Heroic Age of Piracy ... 1 

11. " Red-Beard," the Corsair King . . 9 

III. " The Chief of the Sea " ... 23 

IV. A Romantic Robber . , . . . .36 
V. From Galley Bench to Throne . . 50 

VI. Pirate Slaves and Ships .... 66 

VII. Decatur in at the Finish ... 74 

VIII. A Pirate Admiral 90 

IX. The Beggars of the Sea . . . .99 

X. Fashionable Piracy 116 

XI. An All-round Adventurer . . . 125 

XII. Rovers of the Channel .... 137 

XIII. A Pack of Wolves 148 

XIV. Buccaneering in the Caribbean Sea . 154 
XV. A Wise and a Foolish Pirate . . 160 

XVI. A Chapter of Chances .... 169 

XVII. The Story of a Wicked Buccaneer . 181 

XVIII. The Sea-king of the West Indies . . 199 

XIX. The Wonderful Exploits of Captain 

Morgan 218 

V 



VI 



CONTENTS 



THE 



CHAPTER 

XX. Southward Ho, to Panama! 

XXL A Pair of Literary Pirates 

XXIL Blackbeard and Bonnet 

XXIIL They go Different Ways to 

Same End 

XXIV. The Pirate Paramount . 

XXV. A Pirate in the Making 

XXVL The Foam of the Sea . 

XXVIL The Squadron of the Red 

XXVIII. A Captive's Story . 

XXIX. The Battle of the Red and the 

Black 



PAGE 

230 
241 
251 

263 
275 
285 
301 
310 
3M 

325 



ILLUSTRATIONS 

Taking advantage of this accident, Blackbeard stepped 

back to cock his pistol .... Frontispiece 

FACrS'G PAGE 

Dragut led in chains to the benches of Doria's galley . 38 ^ 

He gathered around him the hot-headed young English 

rebels 142 

Last came the negTo hangman, who implored piteously 

for mercy 188 

Eagerly the men gathered on deck and crowded 

around the rich and glittering hoard . . 290 

The pirates swarmed around their opponents' ships 

. . . and carried everything with a rush • * 310 



vu 



SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 



CHAPTER I 

THE HEROIC AGE OF PIRACY 



r 



In the early days of history the part of pirate 
was played by men who were kings in their pro- 
fession. They were conspicuous and brilliant fig- 
ures in their time ; they had a superb and reckless 
daring, a certain imposing dignity and power, a 
courage and fire that took them out of the region 
of petty pirates and made them formidable and 
noted leaders, who claimed undisputed sway over 
the narrow seas, imposed their will with masterful 
arrogance, and held the fate of nations in their 
power.j 

These corsair kings now stand half shrouded by 
the romance of history and the romance of the sea, 
and the mists of romance produce very much the 
same effect as the mists of the mountains, — they 
blur details and magnify bulk. So that, as we 
look from afar at these great old sea-wolves, they 
take on a grandiose and heroic shape, and we ad- 
mire them for their primitive qualities of strength 

1 



2 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

and size, just as Ave would admire the magnificent 
monarchs of the jungle. They had the courage, 
cunning, and cruelty of beasts of prey, and in 
addition they had some of the ablest and cleverest 
minds of their century. They were eminently 
successful men in their line, but would hardly 
have commended themselves to the humane socie- 
ties of the twentieth century or to the modern 
methods of polite and bloodless piracy ._ 

^Almost every period in history has had its pi- 
rates, and the wide sea has always been the asylum 
of those who refuse to live under the law. Men 
of every race and nation, of every class and origin, 
have enrolled themselves under the black flag. 
For there never was a time when the love of free- 
dom and unrestraint did not drive men to sail 
into the teeth of the gale, to battle with the tumult 
of the storm, to face death and win life against 
the wild fury of air and sky and water. And after 
that, as the Chinese rogues archly say, they had 
to live, so it was no wonder they took to pillage 
and plunder as the only way open to gain a live- 
lihood. Thus freedom and freebooting became 
adopted brothers. 

f The waters that were later to cradle the great- 
est of all mediaeval corsairs, the waters that wash 
the shores of Asia, Italy, and Greece, were even as 
far back as Roman times the home of a powerful 
band of sea-robbers. From all sides of the Empire 
men flocked to this floating republic. Their light- 



THE HEROIC AGE OF PIRACY 3 

footed, racing vessels — "sea-mice," as they were 
called — sped hither and thither in pursuit of prey. 
So rich were their captures that they named their 
waters the "Golden Gulf." They decked their 
prows with gold and purple and precious stuffs, 
and even their oars were plated with silver. 

Every merchant ship that passed over their 
dominion paid blackmail or was looted. Egyp- 
tian, Greek, and Syrian galleys were chased and 
plundered. The coasts of Italy and Greece were 
pillaged, shipping was burned, and towns laid 
under ransom. Hundreds of cities were raided, 
and temples sacked. Large convoys of grain-ships 
were waylaid and plundered, and Rome starved.^ 
^ 5^he pirates^ had a thousand ships, hidden deep 
among the secret harbors of the islands. Their 
nests lay among the crevices of the shores ; their 
watch-towers were perched upon the cragged 
heights that rose abruptly from the water's edge ; 
their fortresses stood on the steep and impractica- 
ble sides of the mountains ; gorges, bogs, and tor- 
rents protected them from attack. 

Strongly fortified in their retreats, they had 
more than once defied the fleets and armies of 
Rome that had in vain been sent out to extermi- 
nate them. It was not until the great Pompey with 
five hundred galleys, over a hundred thousand 
men, and an unlimited treasury, headed an expe- 
dition against these pirate-pests, that they were 
finally subdued and driven to surrender^ 



4 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

In our own era, the Vikings, those titanic and 
primeval men of the North, sailed far and wide 
over the seas on piratical expeditions quite Wal- 
hallian in their scope, size, and strength. They 
spread to the south and west in search of new lands, 
and swept the shores of the Mediterranean, Africa, 
Sicily, Italy, and Greece. They stretched across 
the Atlantic to the coasts of a new continent. 
Their spirit of restless roving and adventure knew 
no bounds, and their voyages of conquest and 
plunder carried them into known and unknown 
waters. 

Their ships were slender and fleet, pointed at 
each end, with gay-colored sails, painted sides, 
and armored prow. They were named in the 
poetic language of the North, " Deer of the Surf," 
"Raven of the Wind," "Snake of the Sea," 
"The Long Serpent," "The Gull of the Fjord." 
The ship of Harald Hardradi, one of the greatest 
of the Viking heroes, was " ornamented all over 
with gold above the water, and fine dragon-heads 
were on it, but the sail was of twofold velvet 
most splendidly woven. This ship was painted 
red, purple, and gold. All the weather-vanes 
looked as if they were of gold, as well as the beaks 
of the dragon-heads ; inside were valiant men 
dressed in costly garments and velvet." 

Those were splendid and gorgeous expeditions, 
never after equalled, that sailed from the shores of 
the North to the lands of the South and of the 



THE HEROIC AGE OF PIRACY 



Setting Sun; fleets three thousand ships strong, 
men valiant in battle, leaders of consummate skill 
and mighty deeds.J 

iJBut if the battles of the giant Norsemen have 
never since been paralleled, we at least feel a 
closer interest in the great corsairs of the fifteenth 
and sixteenth centuries who were the tyrants of 
Europe and whose heirs the United States, as a 
young nation, was the first to overthrow.^ 

The cradle and the grave of the heroic age of 
piracy in the Middle Ages lay in the waters of the 
Mediterranean, that fight-famed sea that has been 
the scene of more tragic and memorable conflicts 
than any other stretch of water in the world. It 
is the separating line between civilization and sav- 
agerj^, between the cross and the crescent, between 
Christianity and Moslemism. And in the century- 
old struggle of these two opposing powers, the 
great corsair sovereigns took at one time the chief 
part. In the days of the fierce Barbarossas of 
Barbary the Moorish and Turkish buccaneers held 
the balance of power and the naval preponderance 
in the Mediterranean. 

TLittle did Ferdinand and Isabella think, when 
they expelled the Moors from Spain, that they 
were giving birth to the " Scourge of Christen- 
dom." The wars of piracy that for three hundred 
years were to spread consternation over the whole 
of Europe began as a war of revenge against 
Spain. The fall of Granada, which was the clos- 



6 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

ing scene in the drama of the Moor in Spain, 
became the opening scene in the wider drama of 
the Moslem in Africa. 

An army of expatriated Mussulmans fled in an 
exodus from the hated Spanish rule, across the 
straits, to the neighboring shores of Barbary, and 
from the strongholds of the North African coast 
they carried on a war of vengeance and reprisals. 
But the Moor alone, for all his daring and skill, 
had not the strength to impose fear on the great 
nations of Europe. It was only when he joined 
his strength with that of the Turkish buccaneer 
that the Barbary corsair became a power to be 
reckoned with. This happened early in the 
fifteenth century. The war of revenge against 
Spain then turned into a war of depredation 
against Europe. 

The corsair kings became a world-power. For 
three hundred years they held sway over the nar- 
row seas and imposed their will on the nations of 
Christendoni. __ Commerce was carried on or inter- 
rupted at their pleasure. They defied the fleets 
of Italy, England, Spain, and Holland; they 
spread terror along the coasts of the great mari- 
time states ; they levied tribute on all vessels that 
passed over the chief highway of trade. 

iDne of the main reasons of their success lay in 
the impregnability of their lairs. The strip of 
land that forms the northern edge of the conti- 
nent of Africa was the safest, the strongest, and 



THE HEROIC AGE OF PIRACY 



the largest covert ever devised by nature for the 
home of sea-wolves. With the straits of Gibraltar 
at one end, and those of Malta at the other, it 
commanded the two outlets of the Mediterranean, 
through which all vessels sailing to European ports 
or to the Levant were obliged to pass. 

Riddled with natural harbors, inland lagoons, 
and hidden creeks, it offered endless means of 
escape and of refuge to the light-draught brig- 
antines and galleys of the rovers. Rising ab- 
ruptly from the coast, the steep mountains formed 
lookouts from which the corsairs could sweep the 
waters from end to end, and espy from afar the 
galleys of the Christians. Severe storms fre- 
quently raged along the coasts and drove ashore 
many prizes unfamiliar with the heavy tides and 
eddies of the enemy's waters. And the treach- 
erous sandbanks caught more than one unwary 
and richly laden merchant vessel. 

The corsairs, familiar with every creek and 
crevice of the coast, found broad and well-pro- 
tected harbors for their pirate fleets, where few of 
the great war-galleys of Spain and Italy dared 
follow in pursuit. Fortresses of Roman and 
mediaeval times defended the approaches. Jerba, 
of the Lotus-Eaters, the celebrated Goletta or 
" throat " of Tunis, Jijil the rocky stronghold, 
Bujeya made famous by the Barbarossas, — all 
these were ample and impregnable harbors of 
refuge for the buccaneersj 



8 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

With such natural advantages ready to their 
hand, it is no wonder that all the sea-robbers of 
the Moslem faith gathered under the safe and 
hospitable shelter of the African ports. 



CHAPTER II 
"RED-BEARD," THE CORSAIR KING 

Ok the island of Lesbos, in the Turkish archi- 
pelago, the ancient home of buccaneers, there 
lived, toward the close of the fifteenth century, 
a poor and hard-working potter. He was a Chris- 
tian of the Greek Church, Jacob by name, and the 
father of two boys who were destined in after 
years to spread terror throughout the whole of 
Christendom. But as boys on the island of Lesbos 
the future Barbarossas worked industriously at 
their father's trade, helping him to support a 
large family of brothers and sisters. 

Meanwhile, the eldest boy, as he shaped and 
moulded the potter's clay, dreamed of the delights 
of a free and roving life. His spirit was ever 
sweeping over the waves, longing to feel the wild 
turmoil of the storm, and to hear the roar of the 
angry waters. At last when he was twenty he 
broke loose from the shackles of work and poverty 
and ran away to sea. A small Turkish galley 
which had touched at a port on the island gave 
him the longed-for chance to sail the seas in search 
of adventure. His first act was to turn Mussul- 

9 



10 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEX SHORES 

man, and with his new religion he received a new 
name, that of Uriij. 

For ten years he scoured the narrow seas, each 
year adding to his reputation for daring, vigilanee, 
and ambition. He had adopted piracy as a pro- 
fession, and had won the respect and admiration 
of every corsair that roved the Mediterranean. 
His fame even reached the ear and the favor of 
certain Turkish merchants of Constantinople who 
were in the habit of combining commerce with buc- 
caneering. These pirate-traders offered Uruj the 
captaincy of a newly built galleot^ which was to 
be sent out on a filibustering expedition to raid 
and plunder aU Christian merchant vessels that 
sailed to the Levant. 

The chance was too fortunate to be n^lected, 
and Uruj's fertile and ingenious brain saw opening 
before him a future which would be his, only for 
the taking, and would bring him the power and 
riches that he coveted. He accepted the offer, 
and even while he fitted out and manned his 
galleot he was secretly laying his plans to jilt his 
employers. Taking on board his two brothers and 
a crew of daring corsairs, he spread his canvas and 
sailed away toward the setting sun, never to return. 

In mid-seas he confided his scheme to his fellow- 
adventurers, and it was received with enthusiastic 
cheers. With every sail set, he headed for the 
coast of Barbary, lured there by tales of rich 
booty that had fallen into the hands of the Moorish 



"RED-BEARD," THE CORSAIR KING 11 

pirates. On his way he overtook a galleot under 
the command of one of his comrades in piracy, 
and the two vessels, joining forces under the 
leadership of Uruj, turned their prows toward 
Tunis. This was in 1504, when Uruj was thirty 
years of age. 

The king of Tunis received the corsairs with 
friendly hospitality, and allowed them free use of 
the port on condition that they would hand over 
to him one-tenth of all their booty. This ar- 
rangement gave the freebooters a strong base of 
operations, and a large and safe retreat for their 
galleys and prizes. It was a fortunate start in 
their new venture, and Uruj proved himself equal 
to his opportunity. From that hour the fame of 
Barbarossa, the '' Red-Beard," as he was now 
called, spread throughout Christendom. He was 
described by those who knew him as " a man 
excessively bold, resolute, daring, and enterpris- 
ing," and his first exploit certainly warranted the 
description. 

Rumors of two richly laden papal galleys, bound 
from Genoa to Civita Vecchia, reached him at his 
newly established headquarters at the Goletta — 
the harbor of Tunis. At once he sped to the 
island of Elba, and there lay in waiting while 
the prizes rowed lazily and unsuspectingly into 
the snare. But even with the advantage of an 
ambush, it was no easy duel to match one small 
galley against two galleys-royal, and the cour- 



12 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

age of Barbarossa's stout Turks began to waver. 
With one accord they remonstrated against the 
foolhardy attack and urged a retreat. 

"Allah forbid that I should ever be branded 
with such infamy! " exclaimed the fiery corsair, his 
eyes glowing with resentment and indignation. 
To deprive the cowards of every means of escape 
he ordered the oars to be thrown overboard, and 
gave the signal for the attack. It was quick 
work. The first galley-royal, carelessly straying 
ahead of her consort with no thought of danger, 
had scarcely time to make ready for a hurried de- 
fence, when smart volleys of shot and arrows from 
the Turkish galleot threw the Christians into a 
panic. The galley-royal was boarded, the Chris- 
tians were secured under the hatches, and the 
Turks dressed themselves in the clothes of their 
captives. Then manning the Pope's great galley 
and taking their own little galleot in tow as if she 
were a conquered prize, they waited with all 
apparent innocence for the consort to join them. 

The audacious stratagem was successful, and 
the second galley-royal fell into the trap, an easy 
prey to the Turkish captain. The captive Chris- 
tians were chained to the pirate oars, and Bar- 
barossa could now reserve his entire crew for the 
battle instead of the bench. 

This first bold stroke, which filled Europe with 
dismay, was followed by many others. Span- 
ish ships were waylaid and brought captive to the 



'^ RED-BE AKD," THE CORSAIR KIXG 13 

Goletta, new galleys were built out of their timber, 
the coasts of Italy, Sicily, and Calabria were rav- 
aged, and no trading-vessel could stir out of port 
without danger of being looted. Uruj became 
rich and prosperous and before long outgrew his 
haunts ; in five years the harbor of Tunis was no 
longer large enough to shelter the ever increasing 
pirate squadron. 

In 1510 the now notorious corsair changed his 
headquarters to the island of Jerba. So far suc- 
cess had followed him at every step. He was 
popular as a leader, vigorous, liberal, and mag- 
nanimous ; his energy and spirit were contagious, 
and inspired his followers to fight to the death. 
An old chronicler, speaking of his personal ap- 
pearance, says, " He was not very tall of stature, 
but extremely well-set and robust ; his hair per- 
fectly red; his eyes quick, sparkling, and lively." 

A change of lair brought, however, a change 
of luck, and his first reverse was received at the 
hands of the Spaniards. In 1512, with twelve 
armed galleots, and one thousand fighting men, 
he went to the assistance of the exiled king of 
Bujeya, who had been dispossessed by the Span- 
iards and forced to wander for three years through 
mountain fastnesses and to seek shelter among 
the free African mountaineers. 

On a day in August the corsair fleet suddenly 
appeared before Bujeya. Landing his troops and 
artillery, Barbarossa joined forces with the king 



14 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

and his three thousand mountaineers, and opened 
a furious cannonading on the Spanish fort. After 
eight days a large breach was made, and Barbarossa 
confidently led his men to the attack. But on 
the very threshold of success he received a severe 
wound, his left arm being shot off above the elbow. 
Deprived of the leadership of their reckless and 
beloved commander, his followers lost heart, and 
all attempt to carry on the expedition was given 
up. The wounded Uruj was taken back to Tunis, 
there to lie on a sick-bed until his arm should 
heal; his brother Kheyr-ed-din was placed in 
command, and the pirate fleet was dismantled, 
and moored in their old harbor at the Goletta. 

News of the corsair's movements had not failed 
to reach the ears of the incensed Senate of Genoa, 
whose rich galleys had more than once fallen a 
prey to the depredations of Barbarossa. Andrea 
Doria, the great Genoese admiral, was sent with 
twelve war-galleys to capture the common enemy. 
Arriving unexpectedly before the harbor of Tunis, 
he landed a large force of men within gunshot of 
the Goletta, his vessels following close alongshore. 
Taken entirely by surprise, Kheyr-ed-din sunk six 
of his own pirate galleys to prevent them from 
falling into the hands of the enemy, and at the 
head of his Turkish soldiers led a desperate sally 
from the fort. But his small force was soon over- 
powered by the superior numbers of his assailants. 
Caught between the fire of the land artillery and 



" RED-BE AKD," THE CORSAIR KING 15 

the batteries of the ships, the Turkish soldiers 
were seized with panic, and taking to their heels 
they fled toward Tunis. Doria took the Goletta 
by storm, and sailed away with six captured 
galleots and several of the pirate prizes to grace 
his victory. 

Lying helpless upon his sick-bed, Uruj received 
the news of his brother's defeat with rage and 
indignation. His fiery and vehement spirit rose 
in wrath and rebellion against what he chose to 
consider as cowardice and incapacity. Kheyr-ed- 
din, afraid to face his brother's stormy displeasure, 
fled to Jerba. There, with diligence and devotion, 
he hoped to appease his lion brother's ire and win 
back his good opinion ; and working with incredi- 
ble energy, he, in a short while, built and fitted 
out several fine new galleots. 

Meanwhile Uruj had recovered from his wound, 
and he now joined his younger brother at Jerba. 
Together they worked and prepared for their 
revenge. The whole of the following year was 
spent in building galleots, making powder, fit- 
ting out the fleet, and gathering men, arms, and 
provisions. 

In the summer of 1514 the brothers started out 
on a second expedition to capture Bujeya and 
reinstate the former king. A gallant little fleet 
of twelve galleots, well armed and carrying over 
a thousand men, appeared before the city. At 
first everything seemed to promise success. Uruj 



16 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

turned his batteries on the fort and soon levelled 
it to the ground. He next made a large breach 
in a newly built bastion which stood by the 
water's edge. But his unlucky star seemed to 
shine over this city of Bujeya. 

With victory almost in his grasp, five large 
men-of-war from Spain appeared suddenly in the 
offing. Even this strong reenforcement for the 
enemy would not have turned Uruj from his pur- 
pose, had not his allies the mountaineers begun 
to desert him. One by one they slunk away to 
their homes, to plough their fields and sow their 
crops. Deserted by his friends, Barbarossa raised 
the siege and retreated out to sea. 

Then in his rage and disappointment, the baf- 
fled corsair tore his beard, and vowed a mighty 
vow that their old haunts should see them no 
more, but that in a new lair they would begin 
their pirate life afresh and redeem their dis- 
honored name. At Jijil, an independent seaport 
town twenty leagues from Bujeya, Barbarossa 
sought refuge, and from this new base of opera- 
tions, during the whole of the fall and winter, 
sallied out on a series of successful cruises for 
plunder. 

Prizes and spoils were brought back in plenty, 
greatly to the delight of the hardy African moun- 
taineers. These free and wild highland natives, 
who had never given their allegiance to any of 
the kings of Tunis, now became so captivated 



"RED-BEARD,'^ THE CORSAIR KIXG 17 

by the generosity of Barbarossa that of their own 
accord they proclaimed him their sultan. Gradu- 
ally Uruj was seeing the fulfilment of his dearest 
dream and highest ambition, that of becoming 
the king of an independent state. 

Not long after the assumption of his new 
honors, the corsair sultan was called to fresh 
exploits in a new field. The Moors of Algeria, 
exiled from their early home among the moun- 
tains of Spain, had been crushed under the Span- 
ish yoke, which had followed them and fettered 
them in their adopted country. In 1516 Fer- 
dinand the Catholic died, and the Moors felt that 
the time was ripe for a strike for freedom. The 
neighboring Arabian sheik Salim was elected 
sultan of Algiers, and ambassadors were sent to 
the powerful corsair Barbarossa to implore his 
aid in freeing their city from the Spaniards. 

Shrewd as well as brave, a politician quite as 
much as a soldier, Uruj was not slow to answer 
the appeal. With six thousand men and six- 
teen galleots he started on what was ostensibly 
a relief expedition, but in reality a voyage of 
conquest. For he cherished no less an ambition 
than to make himself, by might of arm, king of 
the Barbary States. And was not this the open- 
ing wedge ? 

On his voyage to Algiers he tarried by the way 
to punish a bold and dangerous rival, the corsair 
Kara Hassan, who had set up his sceptre at Sher- 



18 SEA-AYOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

shel and bade fair to grow in power and success. 
With a greatly superior force, Uruj appeared sud- 
denly before Sliershel, intimidated the corsairs, 
took possession of the city, ordered the head of his 
rival Hassan to be cut off, and himself proclaimed 
king. This done, he hastened to Algiers, where 
he was received with every demonstration of joy 
and gratitude, and was sumptuously entertained. 

At first all went well, and Uruj zealously plied his 
guns against the Spanish fort. But before long the 
Moors discovered that they had called in a despot 
more iron-willed and haughty than even their for- 
mer master, and that the corsair who had comfort- 
ably established himself and his Turks at Algiers 
was not likely to depart. Their worst fears were, 
in fact, soon realized. Ambition had grown to be 
Uruj's ruling passion, and covetous of the fair city 
of Algiers, he was determined to be its master. 
The unfortunate Salim was entrapped and mur- 
dered, and Barbarossa rode in triumph through 
the streets of the city, among the affrighted popu- 
lace, while his Turks proclaimed him sultan. 

Forced to acknowledge the Red-Beard as their 
sovereign, the Moors of Algiers submitted for a 
time to their pirate conquerors. But while out- 
wardly resigned, they inwardly fretted against 
the insolence and oppression of the Turks, and 
were resolved to free themselves from what had 
become an intolerable tyranny. Terrified by 
the Turks, secretly receiving promises of help 



"RED-BEARD," THE CORSAIR KIXG 19 

from Spain, the Moors leagued themselves with the 
Spaniards, their former oppressors, and with the 
Arabs, and rose in rebellion. 

A vast conspiracy was formed ; the details were 
carefully planned, and a clever scheme of attack 
laid out ; everything promised to be successful. 
But in some way Barbarossa received minute in- 
formation of the whole affair. Instead of being 
taken by surprise, Uruj, by a masterly counter- 
plot, turned the scales against the confederates. 
The ringleaders were seized in the mosque and 
quickly despatched, as an example to the rest of 
the conspirators, and the mob, losing courage, 
meekly submitted. 

This complete crushing of the threatened revo- 
lution, and the annihilation, in 1517, of a large 
Spanish squadron under the command of Don 
Diego de Vera, sent to the assistance of the Alge- 
rines, firmly established the power of Barbarossa 
in Algiers. His empire spread over the whole of 
the neighboring country, and it was not long be- 
fore he found himself sultan of Middle Barbary. 
The independent towns of Tennez and Tremizan 
fell into his hands. Moors and Arabs flocked to his 
standard, and his galleots swept the blue waters 
of the Mediterranean, bringing in fabulous argo- 
sies from the coasts of Spain and Italy. 

But the hour of reckoning was on the swift 
approach. At the very time that Barbarossa had 
reached the height of his power, the new king of 



20 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

Spain, afterward Emperor Charles V, landed in 
the Bay of Biscay to take possession of his new 
dominions. The first act of the young monarch 
was to send a powerful expedition of ten thousand 
veterans under the leadership of the Marquis de 
Comares to break the ever increasing and danger- 
ous power of the corsair tyrant. 

When the marquis landed on African soil, Bar- 
barossa w^as still at Tremizan, having but lately 
been installed as king. He had with him only 
fifteen hundred Turks, and five thousand Moors 
in whose loyalty he had little confidence. Tremi- 
zan was defenceless, and the Spaniards had already 
almost reached its gates. Taken at so great a dis- 
advantage, Barbarossa fled by night with his Turks 
and his treasure and attempted to reach Algiers. 
But the marquis, encamped at no great distance, 
received news of his escape and followed in hot 
chase. The corsair had only a short start, and 
before daybreak he heard the tramp of the enemy's 
horses. Every moment shortened the distance 
between pursuer and pursued. 

Although little hope was left, there was still 
one chance of escape. Not far ahead a river crossed 
their path, and if the troops could succeed in ford- 
ing it before the Spaniards attacked them, they 
might still be saved. Counting on the cupidity 
of the Spaniards, Barbarossa, as a last stratagem, 
scattered his treasure on the ground. Gold and 
silver and sparkling jewels lay enticingly along 



"EED-BEAED," THE CORSAIR KING 21 



the road. Would the pursuers tarry for the spoils ? 
Their lives hung on that question. 

But love of revenge proved stronger than love 
of gold, and galloping headlong over the glittering 
and tempting display, with scarcely a glance at 
the wealth under their feet, the Spaniards caught 
up with the rear of the retreating enemy. Barba- 
rossa, with half of his force, had already forded 
the river and reached the other side, when the 
quick firing and the clash of arms told him that 
his Turks had been caught. Seeing that his faith- 
ful followers were hard pressed and no match for 
the overwhelming numbers of the attacking col- 
umn, he turned on his steps, recrossed the stream, 
and faced death Avith his men. 

Leading his band to a slight rise in the ground, 
he took a resolute stand and determined to die 
hard. Blows fell on every side. ^' Barbarossa, 
though he had but one arm," writes an old Spanish 
historian, "fought to the very last gasp like a 
lion." It was a fierce and desperate struggle, 
hopeless from the first. What could a few hundred 
do against thousands ? One by one they were cut 
down until scarcely a man was left. And so died 
the intrepid Red-Beard, of a gallant and generous 
death. 

He was only forty-four when he died, still in 
the fulness of his power and fame. Bold, ambi- 
tious, liberal, loved by his soldiers, dreaded by his 
enemies, he was faithful to his friends, and cruel 



22 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

only to those who opposed him. His rugged and 
vigorous greatness commanded the respect and 
admiration of both his followers and his antag- 
onists. " He was highly beloved, feared and 
respected by his soldiers, and when dead was by 
them all in general most bitterly regretted and 
lamented." 



CHAPTER III 

"THE CHIEF OF THE SEA" 

The fate of the Barbary corsairs hung for a 
moment in the balance. Uruj, the dashing soldier 
and reckless leader, was dead. Comares, with his 
ten thousand Spanish veterans, was on the road to 
Algiers. A rapid march and sweeping attack, 
Algiers undefended and unprepared, its people 
filled with dismay, surely the power of the pirates 
must be at an end. At this moment of peril 
Kheyr-ed-din, the younger brother, was unani- 
mously chosen by the Turks as their king and 
captain. Realizing the impossibility of holding 
Algiers against the enemy, the new chief hastily 
made preparations to embark with all his men and 
treasure on the twenty-two large galleots that 
formed his squadron. 

Ready at a moment's notice to sail away forever 
from his old haunts, Kheyr-ed-din waited for news 
of the marquis. His surprise, then, could only be 
equalled by the astonishment of the entire civilized 
world, when it was learned that Comares had 
shipped his veterans back to Spain. Thus the 
chance to ruin the powerful corsairs was lost for 
three hundred years to come. 

23 



24 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

Left unmolested and in full possession of his 
beloved coast, Kheyr-ed-din, the second Barba- 
rossa, now laid his plans for new conquests and for 
winning that reputation and greatness which was 
to outshine even his elder brother's fame. His 
first act was to send a deputation to Constanti- 
nople with rich presents and a letter to the Grand 
Signior, assuring him of his humble devotion and 
asking for the protection of the Ottoman Empire. 
The embassy was successful. The Sultan not 
only appointed Barbarossa viceroy of Algiers, but 
sent a force of two thousand picked Janissaries to 
help in the conquest of the rest of Barbary. 

The new viceroy began at once to reenforce his 
garrisons along the coast and to form alliances 
with the Arab chiefs. He so well strengthened 
his position that when Don Hugo de Moncada 
brought over a large fleet of more than thirty 
ships, eight galleys-royal, and many thousand vet- 
erans, Barbarossa easily routed the entire force, 
and a fierce storm completed the destruction of 
the ships. 

One by one the independent Barbary strong- 
holds along the coast fell into his hands, and many 
Turkish rovers, hearing of his fame, flocked to 
his standard. With captains like Salih Reis and 
" Drub-Devil " to lead his eighteen stout galleots 
on their summer cruises along the coasts of the 
Mediterranean, it is no wonder that the world 
rang with the name of the " Scourge of Christen- 



"THE CHIEF OF THE SEA" 25 

dom." The Barbary corsairs were undisputed 
masters of the narrow sea; they held the highway 
of trade from Spain to Italy and even to the 
Indies; not a vessel but had to run the gantlet 
of the pirate coast; not a cargo of gold and jewels 
but was doomed to fall a prey to the strong free- 
booters. 

Col and Bona and Constantina on the African 
coast gave him allegiance. A descent upon the 
Balearic Islands ended in a brilliant victory over 
General Portundo and his eight Spanish galleys, 
and a rich harvest of captives and prizes. 

With his growing successes Kheyr-ed-din at 
last felt strong enough to rid himself of the Span- 
ish garrison and the Spanish fort at Algiers, 
which had given him constant annoyance. The 
only moorage for his galleots was a mile west of 
the town ; the only anchorage for trading-vessels 
lay down to the east. He was now determined to 
be complete master of his own harbor. 

First, as a formality, he summoned the Spanish 
captain, Don Martin de Vargas, to surrender, and 
offered him safe-conduct from the fort. This was 
haughtily refused, and Barbarossa then opened 
fire on the Penon. For fifteen days the heavy 
cannonading was kept up, the gallant Spaniards 
holding out to the last with wonderful pluck. 
But the breach daily increased, and a swift assault 
carried the fort. The fortress was razed to the 
ground and the stones were used to build the 



26 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

great western mole of the harbor of Algiers. A 
fortnight later, when nine transports arrived with 
troops to reenforce the garrison, not a vestige of 
the former fort was left. 

While Barbarossa had firmly established him- 
self as master of the western Mediterranean, the 
Sultan of the Ottoman Empire had, by the capture 
of Rhodes, completed his dominion over the east- 
ern basin of the Mediterranean. Suleyman the 
Magnificent, himself a genius, appreciated the 
genius of Barbarossa, and his astute mind foresaw 
the advantage of linking together more closely the 
two great Mussulman powers of the inland sea. 
He had seen the invincible corsair triumph over 
every adversary, even the redoubtable Andrea 
Dorea, who was reckoned the greatest of Chris- 
tian admirals. For had not Doria, with twenty 
galleys, sailed across to Shershel in 1531, and, fail- 
ing in his enterprise, returned discomfited? If 
Barbarossa could triumph over Doria, he must 
be the man whom Suleyman most desired. An 
imperial order called him to Constantinople. 

The rough sea-dog and arch-corsair now enters 
on a new field. At the ripe age of seventy-one, 
his beard hoary, his face still resolute but furrowed 
and weather-beaten, his eyes piercing, his figure 
vigorous, — furious and sagacious, daring and pru- 
dent, — the grand old pirate, the chief of Moslem 
captains, turns his face from Barbary, enters the 
service of Suleyman the Magnificent, and is placed 



^'THE CHIEF OF THE SEA'' 27 

at the head of the Ottoman navy. This marks 
the preponderance of Turkish power on the sea. 

Sailing into the Golden Horn with his fleet of 
eighteen galleots and fourteen brigantines, the 
veteran Barbarossa was received with joy by the 
Sultan, and with a mingled respect and curiosity 
by the generals and courtiers of the Porte. Ap- 
pointed at once to the highest rank in the navy, 
Barbarossa spent the entire winter of 1533 in the 
work of reconstruction. All was life and bustle 
at the dockyards. Reforms in building, in navi- 
gation, in the whole working system of the ma- 
rine, brought about marvellous changes. By the 
spring sixty-one new galleys were ready to take 
the sea. 

These energetic preparations pointed to a fresh 
enterprise, so it need hardly surprise us to see 
Barbarossa sail away in the early summer with 
a fleet of eighty-four vessels and head for the 
Goletta. The kingdom of Tunis was the destined 
prey. Swiftly and silently the artillery and forces 
were landed, and ten thousand soldiers marched 
on Tunis. The attack was so sudden that Mulei 
Hassan, the king of Tunis, wholly unprepared, 
detested by his subjects, and a coward at best, fled 
in haste to his Arab allies. Barbarossa walked 
into Tunis and hoisted the Ottoman flag. 

But the exchange of sovereignty was not to last 
for long. Feeling secure in his new acquisition, 
Barbarossa dismissed the larger part of the galleys 



28 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

and Janissaries, reserving only eight thousand 
Turks and his own galleots. The fort of the 
Goletta was strengthened and garrisoned, and lit- 
tle did the successful corsair dream that with a 
turn of fortune he was to walk out of Tunis as 
quickly as he had walked in. 

Charles V was not blind to the danger of leav- 
ing Tunis to become a nest of pirates. Already 
they were perched along every crag of the African 
coast. Tunis, at least, must be saved. From Bar- 
celona harbor, on a day in May, 1535, an armada 
of six hundred ships and the flower of the impe- 
rial army set sail, under the great Doria, for the 
key of the Mediterranean. The heavy cannon of 
the St, Ann^ the great carack of the Knights of 
Malta, soon made a breach in the fort of the 
Goletta, and the Knights rushed in. Barbarossa, 
at the head of his troops, led a sortie from the 
town, but his Turks gave way before the hordes 
of imperialists, the gates of the city were treacher- 
ously closed against him, and the corsair was forced 
to retreat to Bona, where his ships lay in waiting 
to carry him to Algiers. 

Barbarossa had been defeated, his first defeat 
since the mantle of his brother had fallen upon his 
shoulders, but he was not of the mettle to lose 
time in vain regret. While the imperial soldiery 
were still given over to plunder and massacre in 
the streets of unhappy Tunis, Barbarossa sped 
across the waters with his eighteen galleots, and 



^^THE CHIEF OF THE SEA" 29 

hoisting Spanish and Italian colors, made for the 
island of Minorca. No one could suspect that the 
corsair was roaming the sea while Tunis lay be- 
sieged, and Barbarossa, after an easy raid, sailed 
back to Algiers laden with rich booty and many 
captives. 

Tunis had been taken, the former king rein- 
stated, and the armada, as usual, sailed back to 
Spain. Barbarossa, left unmolested at Algiers, 
returned to Constantinople to take up fresh work 
for the Sultan. The ambition of Suleyman led 
him to covet the supremacy of the Adriatic as 
well as that of the Mediterranean. In May, 
1537, Barbarossa set sail with one hundred and 
thirty-five galleys, laid waste the coasts of Dal- 
matia and Apulia, captured strongholds, devastated 
Calabria, sacked Fundi, and spread consternation 
as far as Rome. 

An order from Suleyman carried him to Corfu. 
In storm and rain he besieged the castle with fifty 
thousand men and thirty cannon. But the Turks 
were poor marksmen, while the guns of the castle 
were worked with fearful precision. In September 
the siege was raised. 

Unwilling to return to Constantinople with 
empty hands, Barbarossa swept the Adriatic and 
the archipelago with his devastating fleet. In and 
out among the islands he raced ; towns were burnt, 
forts captured, thousands of people carried away 
captive, and countless treasure borne off in tri- 



30 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEX SHORES 

umph to fill the vessels' holds. It was a raid in 
true corsair style. And when the high-admiral 
sailed into the Golden Horn, it was with golden 
riches that filled the coffers of the Sultan, of the 
State, and of Barbarossa himself. 

Twenty-five islands had now transferred their 
allegiance from Venice to the Crescent. This was 
a good beginning toward the undoing of the 
naval power of the Venetian Republic. But Suley- 
man was not satisfied, neither was Barbarossa. 
Again putting off to sea in the summer of 1538, 
the high-admiral sailed, with one hundred and fifty 
ships of war, in search of the great united fleet of 
the Emperor, Venice, and the Pope. This for- 
midable armament, under the command of Doria, 
counted no less than two hundred sail, sixty thou- 
sand soldiers, and twenty-five hundred guns. 

Boldly Barbarossa took his way up the Adri- 
atic. Reaching Prevesa, and the united fleet 
being still out of sight, he slipped nimbly into 
the ample Gulf of Arta, and there awaited events. 

Then came the famous failure. The two great 
masters of the sea who had chased each other up 
and down the narrow waters, and had rarely met, 
now sat face to face with their mighty arma- 
ments. Fifty years earlier there would have 
been a great battle, one to have gone down in 
history as the famous duel between two renowned 
sea-kings. But both were old ; prudence had 
replaced daring. Both had a great reputation 



'^THE CHIEF OF THE SEA" 31 

to lose, and at eighty a name lost can scarcely 
be regained. So Barbarossa lay within, and 
Doria lay without the gulf, and neither moved. 
Warily they watched, but the stakes were too 
high. And then, after two days of silent eying, 
the majestic navy of Europe sailed away. 

Then all was astir on the Turkish vessels. 
Dragut was there, and Sinan the Jew, and Salih 
Reis ; their hot, impatient blood could not be held 
in check. Out they rushed in full pursuit. Gal- 
leys, galleots, and brigantines bore down before 
the wind. The Venetian wing was fiercely en- 
gaged, galleons were burnt or lay unrigged and 
helmless. But still Doria kept aloof, tacking and 
manoeuvring. And in the evening he made sail 
for Corfu, and the day was lost. Again the Turks 
could add another signal victory for the Crescent. 

Although Barbarossa was an old man, his 
energy had in no way deserted him. Every line 
of his face tells that he would be a fighter till his 
death. His fleet still scoured the sea. Town 
after town was captured from the Venetians. 
Cataro was reduced ; Napoli di Malvasia and 
Napoli di Romania were ceded ; and Castelnuovo, 
after a furious cannonading which lasted three 
weeks and pelted the city with thirteen thousand 
shot, surrendered to the conqueror. And so with 
fallen places scattered along his way, Barbarossa 
entered upon his last campaign. 

The "impious alliance," as it has been called, 



32 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

between France and Turkey was levelled at the 
head of Charles V. To the mind of Francis I 
any expedient seemed allowable, even to a union 
with the inveterate foe of Christendom, in order 
to crush the power of the German Emperor. In 
1543 Barbarossa, the freebooter and high-admiral 
of the Crescent, brought one hundred and fifty 
ships to Marseilles. On his way he had pillaged 
the coast of Calabria, raided Reggio, threatened 
Civita Vecchia, and then, with colors flying gayly 
on the breeze, he rounded up in the Gulf of Lyons. 

There he found indecision, fear, and want of 
energy. He found his timorous ally already 
anxious to cancel the bargain. For the undis- 
guised indignation of all the nations of Europe, 
at an alliance with the " Scourge of Christen- 
dom," had shaken the wavering will of Francis I. 

Barbarossa tore his beard in fury at having 
made so long a voyage and all to no purpose. 
With unappeasable anger he paced his deck, de- 
claring that he would not be made a plaything 
and a laughing-stock by man or monarch. He 
who had led his ships without let or hindrance 
wheresoever he willed was not to be chained to 
inaction for the whims of another. 

To appease his fury he was commanded to 
bombard Nice, the " Gate of Italy," and he found 
a vent for his wrath by letting fly a storm of shot 
and projectiles upon the walls of the city. A 
landing was made at the harbor of Ville-Franche, 



"THE CHIEF OF THE SEA" 33 

and a forced march brought the troops and ar- 
tillery within sight of the beautiful city of 
the South. Swiftly and dextrously the Turks 
pitched their camp and opened fire on the fort, 
greatly to the surprise of their allies the French, 
who watched with undisguised admiration the 
precision of the Ottomans' aim. After a few 
hours of fierce cannonading, two great towers 
were destroyed and a breach made, through which 
the besiegers rushed in. The city surrendered 
on honorable terms, while the castle still held out. 

Again Barbarossa opened his batteries with 
good effect, but the fortress was defended by one 
of the corsairs' inveterate foes, a Knight of Malta, 
one of the invincibles who never surrendered. 
An intercepted message told also of the quick 
arrival of an army of relief for the besieged, sent 
by Charles V. This alarmed the Turkish camp. 
Even the skies seemed in league with the Chris- 
tians, for a fierce storm burst over the besiegers 
and added to the terrors of the night. A general 
panic seized the Turks; they retreated in every 
direction. French and Turks alike were filled 
with distrust and fear. The "impious alliance" 
was reaping its own reward. 

The army had lost its nerve ; it was useless to 
tempt fortune. The camp was broken up, the 
campaign brought to an inglorious end, and the 
ships hoisted sail for Marseilles and Toulon. On 
the way news came that Doria was cruising in the 



34 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

western Mediterranean. A favorable wind, or a 
favorable desire, would have brought them together 
to fight out, in their old age, their lifelong quarrel. 
But no ; for one alleged reason or another they 
seemed still unwilling to hunt each other down. 
Was it lack of daring ? Was it the wish, pardon- 
able perhaps, that each nourished to carry his 
glory undimmed to the grave ? Neither wanted 
to be beaten by his rival. Or was their rivalry a 
generous one, and did they feel that they could 
afford to divide the crown of their proud sea-realm? 
Both ended their days without the dishonor of 
failure, unless prudence is a failure. 

Barbarossa wintered his fleet in the fair harbor 
of Toulon. It was not a happy season for the 
city of the South. The Turks were troublesome 
friends, and levied irksome duties on the unwilling 
inhabitants. This useless expedition cost France 
her millions, and, worse still, the Turkish press- 
gang carried off men by the hundreds to be chained 
to the corsairs' oars, and boys by the thousands to 
grace the Sultan's palace. Monthly, the French 
king paid fifty thousand ducats to his importunate 
ally. The treasury of France suffered greatly, and 
the dignity of France suffered still more. 

Summer came at last, and the people of Toulon 
saw with joy the Turkish ships sailing out of their 
beloved harbor. Barbarossa, putting out to sea at 
his leisure, carried with him the riches of France, 
jewellery, silks, and fine linen, cloth of scarlet, and 



^'THE CHIEF OF THE SEA" 35 

captives for the harems. Laden with such gifts, 
and enriching himself on his homeward course by 
raids along the coast of Italy and among islands of 
the Mediterranean, he returned to the Bosphorus. 

The career of the great sea-king was drawing 
to a close. Steeled to every hardship, impulsive, 
masterful, sagacious, with unequalled knowledge 
of the sea, Barbarossa died in 1546 at the advanced 
age of eighty-five. "The chief of the sea is dead," 
was the Arabic saying. 

For more than two hundred years no fleet left 
the Golden Horn and no vessel set sail on its 
voyage without a prayer being said and a salute 
fired at the tomb of the famous Barbarossa, near 
the mouth of the Black Sea. 



CHAPTER IV 
A ROMAJ^TIC EOBBER 

Amokg the redoubtable corsairs who served under 
Kheyr-ed-din Barbarossa, none had so romantic a 
career or so original a character as Dragut. Born 
on the shores of Asia Minor, opposite the island of 
Rhodes, his parents were poor peasant-farmers, 
professing the faith of Mohammed. The spirit of 
adventure, which was born in him, showed itself 
early. When only twelve years old he entered 
the service of a master-gunner in the Turkish 
fleet, and under his tuition became a good pilot 
and a practised gunner. Soon he bought a share 
in a cruising brigantine, and not long afterward 
we find him master of a galleot and a successful 
pirate of the eastern Mediterranean. His fame as 
a freebooter grew apace, and carried his name as 
far as Algiers, where Barbarossa reigned supreme. 

With as much wisdom as daring, Dragut sailed 
across to the great monarch of the Barbary coast 
to lay his respects and his services at the feet of 
one whom every sagacious corsair owned as master. 
Kheyr-ed-din gave him a hearty welcome, made 
him his lieutenant, and appointed him to the com- 
mand of twelve galleots. From that moment the 

36 



A ROMANTIC ROBBER 37 

coasts of Spain and Italy learned to dread the 
name of Dragut, and every vessel that stole out of 
harbor looked timorously at the horizon for the 
corsair's sails. 

Charles V, weary of this pest who was as agile 
in slipping out of harm's way as he was swift in 
swooping down upon his prey, ordered his admiral, 
Andrea Doria, to hunt the corsair down. Doria 
promptly fitted out a fleet and gave the command 
to his nephew Giannetino. 

Ignorant of what was in store for him, Dragut, 
with his thirteen galleots, lay in the road of Gira- 
latta, under the coast of Corsica. Suddenly a 
great fleet hove in sight, hemmed him in on all 
sides, and peppered him with a hail-storm of shot. 
Dragut did not relish being cooped up and can- 
nonaded in a narrow roadstead, so he sailed boldly 
out to face the enemy. He made a good fight but 
was overpowered by numbers; and as he could 
neither retreat nor win, his only choice was to 
surrender. Led in chains to the benches of 
Doria's galley, he served his time with the mean- 
est slaves and the foulest ruffians, bending his 
back under the lash and straining his sore muscles 
at the galley-oar. 

Four years he waited for his release. At last 
Barbarossa sailed with a hundred galleys to Genoa 
and demanded the freedom of his friend, agreeing 
to pay a ransom of three thousand ducats. Kheyr- 
ed-din was not a man to be played with. Dragut 



38 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN^ SHORES 

was given up, and promptly Barbarossa handed 
him a commission as general-in-chief of all the 
western corsairs. " Dragut is braver than I," said 
Barbarossa, with magnanimity. 

No sooner had Dragut regained his liberty than 
he took to his old habits with even keener zest 
since his captivity. The coasts of Italy again 
learned to know and fear him. The Knights of 
Malta also learned to know him, and lost one of 
their fine galleys with seventy thousand ducats on 
board. 

In four years Dragut was master of an indepen- 
dent fleet of twenty-six vessels. His lair was at 
the old home of the first Barbarossa, the island of 
Jerba ; but not content with this limited domain, 
he seized one by one the strongholds along the 
coast. Susa fell into his hands, then Sf ax, then 
Monastir. He next laid his plans for the con- 
quest of the ancient and famous city of " Africa " 
or Mahdiya. 

This important and strongly fortified city was 
built on a tongue of land that jutted out into the 
sea several leagues east of Tunis. It was just 
such a retreat as would suit a pirate's needs. Not 
only was there a large and safe harbor, but there 
was also a small and convenient port for galleys. 
The fortifications were of unusual strength ; tow- 
ers, bulwarks, and walls rose to a great height, 
their foundations washed by the sea. On a hill 
commanding the city loomed a large fortress. 



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Dragut led in chains to the benches of Doria's galley 



A ROMANTIC EOBBER 39 

But if this would prove an impregnable retreat 
for pirate galleys, it would also be a formidable 
stronghold to capture. The independent Moors 
who ruled it allowed neither Turk nor Christian 
within its walls. A powerful Christian armament 
had failed, two hundred years earlier, to subdue 
the city, and now it seemed rash and futile for 
the corsairs with their limited numbers to attempt 
an assault. 

But where force was useless, strategy might 
prevail. Dragut made friendly overtures to one 
of the leading Moors of the city, and spared 
neither gifts nor promises of future wealth to 
win his confidence. Having thus gained a con- 
federate within the very walls of Africa, he trusted 
his fame and his life to his new ally. 

One dark night, a squadron of galleys, well 
manned and fully equipped, stole noiselessly under 
the walls of the sleeping city. None knew of it 
save the traitor Ibrahim. Then through a dark, 
subterranean passage stealthy forms crept silently 
along. Not a sound, scarcely a breath, was heard. 

Suddenly at daybreak the people were rudely 
startled from their sleep by the blare of trumpets. 
Several hundred freebooters with Dragut at their 
head held the heart of the city. The people flew 
to arms. But hurry and confusion gave them no 
chance to marshal their ranks. Their impetuous 
onslaught was soon overcome and the corsairs 
were masters of the place. Then Dragut, impa- 



40 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEIST SHORES 

tient to be speeding over the waves once more, 
appointed his nephew, the bold young Hisar Reis, 
governor of the city, and set out on one of his 
cruises. 

The capture of Africa alarmed Charles V. He 
knew the strength and importance of the place. 
Dragut, firmly established at this stout base of 
operations, would grow to be a yet more formi- 
dable opponent. At all costs Africa must be 
reconquered. 

Andrea Doria had for several months been 
cruising in the waters of the Mediterranean with 
forty-three galleys-royal in a fruitless search for 
the wily corsair. Meanwhile, Dragut, with half 
that number of galleots, ravaged the coasts. One 
of the first lessons a pirate learns is never to be 
caught. Day by day Doria heard news of the 
corsair's raids, but never could he put his finger 
on him. After his early experience at the galley- 
bench of the Christians, Dragut was not likely 
to be taken again, and now he played hide-and- 
seek with his rival all over the waters of the 
Mediterranean. 

Not until June, 1550, did Doria at last round 
up at Africa, but it was with a strong addition to 
his fleet. A squadron from Naples and one from 
Malta brought the number of ships to over eighty. 
The batteries were opened on the city walls, and 
the Christian leaders settled down for a long 
siege. 



A ROMANTIC ROBBER 41 

The cannonading had been kept up without 
effect for a month, when Dragut slipped in unan- 
nounced. Under cover of a dark night he landed 
several thousand Moors, crept to within a few 
miles of the city, and lay in ambush in a forest of 
olive trees. At a given signal his nephew was to 
make a desperate sally from the city. 

It was well planned, but the besiegers got word 
of the plot and were prepared. After a long and 
obstinate struggle Dragut and his men were re- 
pulsed and retreated to their galleys. Meanwhile, 
scarcely a breach had been made in the stout city 
walls, but a traitor was found to tell of the only 
weak spot in the fortifications. The batteries were 
trained on that point and soon the walls were 
shattered. Bullets and arrows fell like a storm 
of hail in the city, and the fire on both sides was 
so furious that it seemed like a fearful storm of 
lightning. 

But no efforts could save the city, and after a 
gallant stand the people fled to the mountains, or 
to the forests, or the ships. An immense booty of 
gold, silver, and precious stones fell into the hands 
of the Christians. 

Again Dragut sped back to Jerba and busied 
himself with refitting his squadron. He had 
brought in a fresh relay of ships from his last 
cruises, and lay there calmly " greasing his keels " 
in the narrow straits which connect the sea with 
the great lake behind the island. His merry men 



42 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

all had their sleeves turned up and were singing 
and cracking jokes, when — they rubbed their eyes 
for very wonder — there lay Doria and his fleet at 
the mouth of the straits. 

" Caught in a trap ! " So cried Doria tri- 
umphantly. Twenty-two galleys-royal, besides 
galleots and brigantines, cut off all escape at the 
north. On the south the shores of the lake formed 
an impassable bog. Doria sat down leisurely to 
gloat over his expected and inevitable victory. 

The wary and inventive Dragut, meanwhile, 
was not inactive. With great bustle and display, 
he set up a bastion and started a brisk fire on the 
enemy's galleys. Then, under cover of the night, 
and while Doria was kept busy with the cannon- 
ading, he gathered several thousand workmen and 
set them at digging a channel from the south side 
of the lake to the open water. What was this 
clever trick he was devising ? Any one looking 
into the silent but active camp would have been 
truly perplexed. Slaves and Turks, rafts and 
rollers, and tallowed planks were all brought into 
play ; galleys were hoisted up and one by one 
rolled overland ; brigantines were slipped along the 
greased pathway. It seemed like some mysterious 
game, for the pirates flew here and there with a 
half-amused smile, as if there were some great 
joke in the air. 

Doria, gravely lying with all his fleet at the 
mouth of the straits, with his foe bottled up 



A ROMANTIC ROBBER 43 

inside, knew nothing of these strange proceedings. 
But one morning he awoke with a start. Not a 
pirate ship was in sight, not a living being on the 
bastion, not a breath or a stir in the Turkish 
camp. 

Dragut with all his men and all his ships had 
flown, slipped through his fingers in the most 
insolent manner, skipped out of a back passage, 
and gone careering over the seas to Jerba, picking 
up on the way a Sicilian galley and a few other 
prizes. Was there ever anything so maddening ? 

Though Dragut had escaped, he no longer felt 
a strong liking for the coast of Africa, and he 
decided to try his fortunes in other scenes. The 
following year, 1551, found him at Constantinople, 
where he joined his forces to the Ottoman fleet. 
Some great enterprise was on foot, to judge by the 
preparations at the Dardanelles and the activity at 
the arsenals, but whatever it was the secret was 
rigorously kept. Then one fair morning one 
hundred and fifty galleys, ten thousand soldiers, 
and many siege-guns set sail with Sinan Pasha 
as head admiral, and Dragut chief adviser. By 
the Sultan's orders no step was to be taken with- 
out the corsair's knowledge and approval. 

All the world knew the object of the expedition 
when the fleet cast anchor under the island of 
Malta. The Knights of St. John had been to the 
Sublime Porte what the Barbarossas and Dragut 
had been to Christian Europe, a thorn in the flesh. 



44 SEA-WOLVES OP SEVEN SHORES 

Their destruction was the chief desire of Suley- 
man, and the dearest wish of Dragut. 

In July, 1551, the Turkish fleet sighted Malta, 
that arid island-rock, the last refuge of the Knights 
and the outpost of Christianity. This then was 
the stronghold which Dragut had represented as 
being so easily taken. To see the Knights, his 
inveterate enemies, hunted out of their refuge was 
dear to his heart. He had often studied their for- 
tifications, and in his desire to urge the Turk into 
active measures, had underrated them. 

Filled with awe and dismay, Sinan Pasha stood 
before the formidable castle of St. Angelo. " Cer- 
tainly no eagle could have chosen a less accessible 
rock to have built his nest upon!" he cried angrily 
to Dragut. To start a siege with a mingling of 
dread and " lukewarmness " was of course to court 
failure at the start. Sinan decided to destroy as 
much of the fortifications as possible, and then 
move on to Tripoli, which he had received orders 
to take. We can realize how Dragut must have 
chafed and fretted under this prudent policy. 
With no feeling of fear, or dread of danger, the 
corsair longed to make a dashing attack and carry 
the place by assault. 

On the narrow promontory of land which juts 
out into the sea, Sinan landed fifteen hundred 
Janissaries. The admiral then boarded his flag- 
ship and with several other galleys advanced 
toward the harbor. Suddenly a furious volley 



A ROMANTIC ROBBER 45 

of shot swept the decks of the galleys. The 
oarsmen, disconcerted, dropped their oars. An 
ambuscade! Was the whole shore lined with am- 
buscades ? The timid soul of Sinan was discour- 
aged. He ordered the soldiers to reembark. 
The expedition ended in the devastation of the 
defenceless villages and farms in the interior of 
Malta, in fire and sword and plunder, and in the 
capture of the neighboring island of Goza; but the 
fortress was left. Dragut's revenge was post- 
poned for a time. 

Abandoning Malta, Sinan sailed on to Tripoli. 
This town belonged to the Knights, and the 
Knights must be subdued. If Malta still stood, 
Tripoli must fall. And the capture of Tripoli 
was an easier task, for its ramparts were in ruins 
and its garrison weak. The Knights were too 
poor to restore its defences. But the spirit of 
the commandant was stronger than his battle- 
ments. Summoned to surrender, Gaspard de Vil- 
liers replied, "Tripoli has been intrusted to my 
charge ; I shall defend it to the death." Four 
hundred men were all the garrison he had. 

Without delay, six thousand Turks and forty 
guns were landed, and a battery opened fire on 
the largest tower, A lively answer from the fort, 
and the walls stood firm. Still the batteries kept 
up their fire, and still the walls were uninjured. 
The siege promised to be a long one, when a 
traitor crept from the fort, crossed the moat, 



46 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

and reached the camp of Sinan. Through him 
the Turkish admiral learned the weak points in 
the wall ; the guns were turned on the towers of 
Santiago and Santa Barbara ; the stones crumbled, 
a large breach was opened. The garrison, worn 
out, discouraged, refused to fight or to throw up 
earthworks. The commandant was forced to sur- 
render on honorable terms, but Sinan thought 
only of his reception at Constantinople, and 
threw every man into chains to grace his triumph. 

For the next few years Dragut, always on the 
move, always in the van of every Turkish expedi- 
tion, appeared now on the coast of Calabria, now 
on the coast of Apulia. Every spring a fleet sailed 
out of the Bosphorus ; and every spring the shores 
of the Mediterranean were raided. Treasures and 
captives fell into his hands, and the Christians 
were unable to resist him. But every now and 
then the powers of Europe rose in a great effort 
to crush the Turks with a telling blow. In 1560 
a forest of masts gathered at Messina. Spain, 
Genoa, the Knights, the Pope, all contributed to 
the armament. The Duke of Medina Celi was 
placed in chief command. Tripoli was its goal. 
But before it could reach Tripoli, storms and 
disease and death had so crippled its forces that 
orders were given to turn aside to Jerba. 

Could Jerba, the ancient seat of pirates, the 
lair of Uriij, of Kheyr-ed-din, and of Dragut, fall 
into the hands of Christians ? For a moment it 



A ROMANTIC ROBBER 47 

seemed so. In March the flag of Spain waved 
proudly over the castle of the corsairs, planted 
there by Medina Cell. Jerba had fallen an easy 
conquest. Then the commander-in-chief and his 
troops set to work to strengthen the fortifications. 
All winter they worked, confident of being left 
unmolested, for the Turks never moved out of 
port before May, and could not reach them till 
late ill June. Medina Cell lingered to see the 
forts completed, the parapets heightened, and the 
moat made deeper. Then he would carry his 
fleet back to Messina. But he lingered too long. 

Early in May a frigate sped in haste from Malta 
bearing news of great moment : the Turkish fleet 
was on the water. Twenty galleys were head- 
ing for Jerba. A panic seized the Christians. 
" The Turks, the Turks ! " Hurried embarka- 
tions, confusion, despair. In the very straits 
where Dragut had been caught and escaped, the 
Christians were now caught and did not escape. 
Not a ship of all that gallant fleet sailed back to 
Messina. Galleons and galleys fell into the hands 
of the Turks, and eighteen hundred men met a 
bitter and humiliating death. 

As Dragut had lived, so was he to die in the 
heat of battle, with the cry of victory on his 
lips. In 1565 the famous siege of Malta was in 
progress. This is not the place to describe that 
glorious defence ; but Dragut was there for his 
revenge, and we must tell of him. 



48 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

The Turkish armada, under Piali Pasha and 
Mustafa, lay before Malta. On the promontory 
of Sceberras, under Fort St. Elmo, thirty thousand 
Turks were landed, earthworks thrown up, and 
twenty-one guns opened fire on the little garrison 
of a few hundred men. Dragut arrived late at 
the rendezvous, too late to advise an attack on 
Goza rather than St. Elmo. The siege must go 
on as it had begun, and Dragut threw all his 
energy and vigor into aiding the attack. Whole 
days he passed in the trenches or at the batteries. 
None understood better than he the art of the 
gunner, and regardless of danger he directed the 
batteries and set up his own culverins on what 
was long known as Dragut's Point. 

For twenty-three days the conflict raged. Wall 
after wall was battered down. As soon as one 
fell a new one was set up in its place. Then 
Dragut made a bridge across the moat with some 
of his largest yards, and stormed the castle long 
and furiously. One by one the brave knights fell 
on the ruins of their walls, but not until eight 
thousand Turks had been slain. The line of 
blockade was lengthened to the water's edge and 
St. Elmo was isolated. Dragut himself directed 
the engineers in this new work, and reckless of 
danger stood outside the intrenchments. Sud- 
denly he fell. Part of a stone, shattered by a 
shot from the enemy, struck him on the head. 

As he lay senseless on the ground, Mustafa 



A ROMANTIC ROBBER 49 

threw a cloak over him, that none might know 
of their great loss. Five clays later St. Elmo fell, 
and Dragut, lying in his tent at the point of death, 
heard the news, and his soldier's heart rejoiced. 
He did not live to see the glorious victory of the 
Knights ; he lived only to know that the fort he 
had besieged, the fort which had given him his 
death-wound, was a mass of ruins. 

A corsair's life, a soldier's death, — and the brave 
spirit, gay, romantic, vivid, without ambition, filled 
with a love for the sea, the last of the great free- 
booters, joined his pirate brethren that had gone 
before. 



CHAPTER V 
FROM GALLEY BENCH TO THRONE 

It was a strange freak of fortune that led 
Ochiali, the Renegade, from a galley bench to a 
throne, from the most abject and despised of 
slavery to the kingship of Barbary and the chief 
captaincy of the Ottoman Empire. He began life 
in so very obscure and forlorn a fashion that he 
had not even a name — not a name of any kind, first 
or last. Born in one of the poorest and meanest 
villages of southern Italy, he was to the last 
degree illiterate and ignorant, but he at least 
turned out to be a sturdy, robust boy, and he was 
of course a Christian Catholic. His only employ- 
ment was to row in a wherry or fishing-smack, 
and it was while he was off on one of these fishing 
voyages that he was captured by a Barbary corsair 
and carried in chains to Algiers. 

His new master found him a strong, stalwart 
youth, thoroughly inured to the sea, a real salt- 
water tough. He consequently chained him to 
one of the foremost benches of his own galley as a 
mark of especial favor, and there the Calabrian 
youth pulled and strained at the great, heavy 
oar, bending his back to the lash, day after day, 

60 



FROM GALLEY BENCH TO THRONE 51 

and year after year. Not only did he have to 
bear the bonds and the stripes of his master, but 
also the sneers and the derision of his fellow-slaves. 
For so miserable and repulsive was his condition 
that all refused to be either his messmate or his 
bench-mate except under the compulsion of the 
strajj. 

For many years he had suffered insults and 
cruelty with we know not how much patience, when 
a severe blow dealt him one day by a soldier on 
board the galley roused all the slumbering hatred 
and resentment of his nature. His one desire in 
life now was to avenge that hurt. He had endured 
hardships, pain, and suffering, but this added 
humiliation he would not endure. 

So he turned Mussulman. His chains were 
knocked off, he was freed from the bench, he won 
liberty, but with it he also won a name that is 
odious in ever}" land, — the "Renegade."' The 
Turks had called liim Fartas, " Scurvied " ; he was 
now nicknamed Ochiali, a corruption of Aluch 
Ali. 

Ochiali soon showed himself too valuable a sea- 
man to be lost to the profession, and his pirate 
master made him boatswain. In this capacity, 
and from his portion in the lootings, he amassed a 
pile of ducats enough to buy himself a share in a 
brigantine. Capacity finds its level in the end, 
and Ochiali played his part so well that in a few 
months he rose to be captain and sole proprietor 



62 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

of a small galleot. He was now looked upon as the 
boldest and most expert of all the Barbary corsairs, 
and his fame spread until it reached the ears of 
Dragut. 

It was the policy of the great chiefs of piracy 
to give generous encouragement to all rising and 
promising young freebooters, and thus to make 
auxiliaries out of men who might have one day 
become rivals. Dragut extended a friendly hand 
of comradeship to the new pirate captain, and in- 
vited him to enter his service. Quick to see that 
the road to preferment lay in the regular and not 
the independent ranks, Ochiali accepted the posi- 
tion of lieutenant and special emissary to the 
corsair king, and abandoned his free roving. 

This clever pirate was now intrusted with a 
series of important missions in which he displayed 
his resolute and astute mind. When Medina-Celi 
threatened Jerba and held the sea with his Span- 
ish armada, it was Ochiali who was despatched 
in haste to Constantinople to implore assistance. 
So well did he use the arts of diplomacy and per- 
suasion as minister plenipotentiary to the Porte 
that he returned with a force of one hundred gal- 
leys under the command of the famous Piali Pasha, 
one of the greatest of Turkish admirals. The 
entire rout of the Spanish fleet and the defeat of 
the land forces, to which Ochiali had so largely 
contributed, raised him into high favor with Turks 
and corsairs. 



FROM GALLEY BENCH TO THRONE 53 

Attentions were showered upon him by Piali 
Pasha, who developed a warm and admiring 
friendship for the ex-galley-slave, and was never 
tired of showing him honor. Ochiali, meanwhile, 
took every opportunity to distinguish himself, and 
chances were not wanting for a man of spirit. He 
took active part in the siege of Malta, and was in 
all the daring enterprises that Dragut, his chief, 
set on foot. Full of resource, energy, and dash, 
he was always to be seen at the front, fearless of 
death and danger ; and when Dragut fell before 
St. Elmo, mortallj^ wounded, it was Ochiali who 
took his place as leader. 

The death of Dragut proved to be Ochiali's 
chance. For Piali Pasha appointed him viceroy 
of Tripoli, and sent him with three galleots to 
take possession of his new kingdom and to bury 
his master. Not only did he fall heir to Dragut's 
dominions, but also to his personal property, his 
galleys, slaves, and treasure. So that he suddenly 
found himself by a turn of the wheel a rich and 
powerful ruler. 

Ochiali had won his good fortune by capacity 
and tact. He now continued on this very success- 
ful course, and partly we hope out of gratitude, 
partly we think out of self-interest^ he cultivated 
the mighty Piali Pasha, whose high position gave 
him strong influence and power with the Sultan. 
After every successful piratical deal in rubies and 
gold ducats, or in silks and velvets, he sent costly 



54 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN^ SHORES 

and magnificent gifts to the great pasha at Con- 
stantinople. Other men of far more polish and 
cultivation have been snobs or toadies. Then why 
should not a pirate be a snob, and why should he 
not flatter the great men in high places by send- 
ing them presents in the hope of being invited to 
dine at the palace, or of being pulled up a little 
higher on the social or political ladder ? The irony 
of justice is that snobs usually succeed, if they are 
good actors and never make a serious blunder. 
But this requires cleverness and self-control. 
Ochiali had both, and therefore made a brilliant 
success. 

The result was that when many bitter com- 
plaints were brought to the attention of the Sul- 
tan against the reigning pasha of Algiers, the 
great Piali used his interest and influence to 
capture that high position for his favorite. It is 
needless to say that he was successful, and an 
imperial order sealed with imperial seals was 
brought in state to Tripoli containing Ochiali's 
appointment to the viceroyalty of Algiers. 

The first time that Ochiali had entered Algiers 
it was as the meanest of slaves, laden with irons ; 
the second time, he made his entry as the highest 
ruler in Barbary, loaded with honors. 

As king, Ochiali put in practice the astute and 
sagacious policy that he had adopted as courtier, 
and almost at once he had an opportunity to show 
his moderate, judicious, and we may even say 



FROM GALLEY BENCH TO THRONE 55 

fair-minded disposition, although one is usually 
cautious in attributing fair-mindedness to a pirate. 
At his accession the famous revolt of the Moors 
in Spain, well known as the Morisco Rebellion, 
was at its height. The insurgents had intrenched 
themselves in their mountain fastnesses in the wild 
and impassable Alpuxarras, and were making head 
against the Christian king. But they doubted 
their own powers to hold out, and earnest appeals 
for help were sent to the new viceroy of Algiers. 

Not wishing to involve his state in a war with 
Spain, Ochiali refused all official aid, but he gave 
permission to his subjects to volunteer as private 
individuals and join the army of insurgents in the 
capacity of adventurers. But when the Algerine 
Moors collected a great quantity of arms and 
ammunition, and were proposing to ship them to 
the coast of Andalusia and sell them to the rebels, 
Ochiali put his veto on the whole affair. He had 
no intention of having his own dominions stript 
of their means of defence, or of making money 
out of the necessity of friends. On this point the 
pirate and renegade might be copied to advan- 
tage by highly civilized countries of the present 
century. 

A royal manifesto was then issued to the effect 
" that all such as had two of a sort, as muskets, 
swords, or other weapons, might, if they thought 
fit, send over one of them, provided they did it 
gratis^ and purely for the sake of the cause ; but 



56 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

he would never," he said, " allow any of them to 
strip themselves of their arms for lucre." 

Not content with this estimable sentiment, and 
wanting to see for himself that his instructions 
were carried out, Ochiali ordered all donations 
of weapons to be brought to a certain mosque, 
where he personally inspected the contributions. 
These proved to be so '' prodigious," that he again 
exerted his prerogative and reserved a portion of 
the arms to be stored in the government magazine, 
permitting the remainder to be shipped to Spain. 

Ochiali was a born diplomat. There was no 
question of heredity or of education with him. He 
was a self-made man, more so than any Ameri- 
can, because no American was ever born into 
such squalor and degradation. With him diplo- 
macy was an instinct, and he brought it into play 
with a deftness and opportuneness that showed 
the natural statesman. He had occasion to make 
use of it in his dealings with the Tunisians. 

In the second year of his administration he was 
approached by an embassy representing the no- 
bility of Tunis, who craved his succor and protec- 
tion. The people of Tunis were groaning under 
an oppressive and insulting tyranny ; the nobles 
especially were insufferably abused, their posses- 
sions confiscated, and their lives in danger. They 
had heard of the just and enterprising character 
of the viceroy of Algiers and sought his help. 
Ochiali did not jump at the chance. He received 



FKOM GALLEY BENCH TO THEONE 57 

the embassy with interest and kindliness, but did 
not commit himself. He told them that he wished 
to think the matter over, and he took his time 
about it. 

Months passed, and no word of hope or encour- 
agement came from Algiers. The nobles became 
anxious and uneasy. Again they appealed to the 
pasha in urgent terms, this time making him in 
writing the formal offer of the sovereignty of their 
entire kingdom to be held by him in the name of 
the Sultan. This precisely suited the ideas of 
Ochiali, and was what he had waited for. 

Setting out from Algiers with a small army 
of five thousand Turks, six thousand mountain 
cavalry, and a train of ten light field-pieces, he 
picked up reenforcements along the way, in his 
march through the neighboring towns, and pitched 
his camp at Beja, an ancient city two days' ride 
from Tunis. The tyrant of Tunis, King Hamida, 
soon came to attack him with an army of thirty 
thousand horse and foot. To all outward appear- 
ance the force was overwhelming, but treason 
lurked in high places. 

Scarcely had the engagement begun and the 
first shot been fired than the general of the cav- 
alry and two other officers of high rank deserted, 
with their regiments, to the side of the Algerines. 
Filled with alarm, Hamida turned and fled toward 
Tunis, and in the night stole away to the fort of 
the Goletta, carrying with him his money, jewels, 



58 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

wives, and other valuables. Ochiali walked into 
Tunis without opposition, and took possession of 
his new realm, distributing favors with princely 
liberality, and treating his Arab and Moorish sub- 
jects with extreme courtesy. 

Ochiali was beginning to tire of his duties as 
sovereign, and he could hear the voice of the salt 
water calling him irresistibly away from city 
streets and from mountains and plains. After 
putting his affairs in order, and telling no one of 
his design, he left Tunis and travelled toward 
Algiers. But on his way he despatched a negro 
slave, who was a fleet runner, with secret orders 
of great moment. This man, writes the old 
historian of Algiers, " was so famous a walker 
that he would outgo and tire any horse in the 
whole country." The courier carried orders to 
all the captains of gallej^s and galleots "to get 
ready for an expedition with the utmost de- 
spatch." 

It was a gay little fleet that sailed out of harbor 
a short time afterward. The admiral galley took 
the lead, and was followed by twenty-three other 
smart and dapper vessels, well manned and pro- 
vided for a cruise. Shaping his course eastward, 
Ochiali sighted Sicily, and looked eagerly about for 
signs of an adventure. Picking up some fisher- 
men, who were the newsmongers of the coast, 
he learned with keen relish that four Mal- 
tese galleys, among them the flag-ship of the 



FROM GALLEY BENCH TO THROXE 59 

general of the galleys, lay in the harbor of Licata, 
on their way to Malta. 

This was a rare chance for the pirate king. He 
ordered all sails to be taken in and stowed away, 
to prevent discovery, and lay to, oar in hand, in 
the channel which separates Sicily from Malta. 
Soon the Maltese galleys were seen, sailing un- 
consciously along into the very jaws of the enemy. 
In a moment they were surrounded. Only one, 
the St. Ann^ made a desperate fight against eight 
of the Algerines. The others tried to escape, but 
were caught and captured. Ochiali then bore 
away for Algiers, banners waving and streamers 
flying gayly on the breeze, while the rich prizes 
were towed triumphantly into port. 

Again Ochiali put to sea. This time he had 
received an urgent message from the Sultan. A 
powerful fleet was being fitted out at Constanti- 
nople for some great expedition against Christen- 
dom. The Corsair king was bidden to join the 
Ottoman forces with all possible speed, and to 
bring a strong contingent. He weighed anchor 
at once, and carried his best cruisers with him. 

The island of Cyprus was the sentinel of Chris- 
tian Europe ; every movement of the Turks was 
watched and reported from its shores ; it was an 
offence to the Porte, or so the Sultan considered 
it. Constantinople was not at war with Venice, 
to whom the island belonged, but it was easy to 
pick a quarrel, and this the Sultan did. War was 



60 SEA-WOLYES OF SEYEI^ SHOKES 

declared, the Turkish fleet sailed out of the Bos- 
phorus, met the Barbary squadron on the way, 
and together they spread their line around Nicosia, 
the capital of the island. 

It was not a long shrift. The capital surren- 
dered, Famagusta fell, the garrisons were mas- 
sacred. The Christian fleet, numbering several 
nationalities under separate leaders, — a formi- 
dable armament made powerless by jealousies and 
wranglings, — sailed around the waters at a safe 
distance, and then returned to Sicily in fear of a 
gale. Cyprus fell into the power of the Turks, 
and has remained theirs to this day. 

So far the Christians had pitted a disunited 
coalition against a united whole. The dissensions 
between the allies and the disputes among the 
commanders had been as fruitful of defeat as the 
guns of the Turks. But the moment was to come 
when the tide of Moslemism was to be once for all 
turned back on to its own shores, and the naval su- 
premacy of the Mediterranean pass from the hands 
of the Ottomans into those of the Christians. As 
Barbarossa had seen the rise of the crescent, Ochi- 
ali was to see its wane. 

The famous alliance called the " Holy League," 
between Spain, Venice, and Rome, had been formed 
with the intent of crushing the power of the Sul- 
tan. For want of an able commander-in-chief it 
had failed at Cyprus, to the lasting disgrace of 
Europe. At Lepanto it was to meet with a ring- 



FROM GALLEY BENCH TO THEOXE 61 

ing success througli the skill of its high-admiral, 
the brilliant and chivalrous John of Austria, who 
had been appointed sole commander of the fleet. 
He was scarcely more than a youth, this gallant 
brother of Philip II and son of Charles V, but he 
had already won renown by his masterly quelling 
of the Morisco Rebellion, and had succeeded 
where veterans had failed. 

The fleet of the allies, collected at Messina, 
was the largest Christian armament ever arrayed 
against the crescent. Under the sacred banner 
of the League were assembled over three hundred 
vessels and eighty thousand men. The king of 
Spain sent a fleet of a hundred and sixty-four 
galleys, frigates, and brigantines; the contingent 
from Venice, headed by their famous commander, 
Veniero, numbered a hundred and thirty-four 
galleys and galleasses ; while the Pope had sent 
a squadron of eighteen vessels under the command 
of Colonna. On the 16th of September, 1571, the 
united fleet put to sea, led off by the gorgeous 
eapitana galley, the Reale^ flag-ship of Don John. 

Meanwhile the Barbary and Turkish fleets, 
after a looting cruise up the Adriatic and among 
the islands, had run into the Gulf of Lepanto, a 
long, narrow strip of water which almost cuts 
Greece in two. There they were descried from 
the maintop of Don John's flag-ship, as sail after 
sail appeared over the rocky headlands. They 
were arranged in an immense line of battle, 



62 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

stretching a mile across, almost from shore to 
shore. 

The young commander-in-chief was keen for 
the fight. He had determined on a battle, and 
was not to be deterred by the cautious advice of 
the allied leaders. '' The time for counsel is past," 
he said to them, "and the time for fighting has 
come." A signal gun was fired to prepare for 
action, and the banner of the League floated out 
at the maintop. The two armaments advanced 
upon each other : the Turks, confident of victory, 
uttered wild shouts and screams, clashed cymbals, 
and blew trumpets ; the Christians, hoping for 
success, fell on their knees in silent prayer. 

When the bugles sounded for the assault, the 
first galleys to meet and strike were the two flag- 
ships of Don John of Austria and Ali Pasha, the 
Turkish commander. Linked together, these two 
vessels became a battlefield. The harquebusiers 
of Don John, in a spirited and gallant fight, twice 
cleared the deck of All's ship, and twice were 
driven back by the janissaries of the pasha. At 
the third attempt the Spaniards reached the mast 
and attacked the poop. Ali fell, shot in the fore- 
head. The sacred standard of the Turks was 
pulled down, and the banner of the cross run up 
in its stead. 

Meanwhile there was hard fighting on the wings. 
The Turkish right made a clever flanking move- 
ment by running close to the shoals and shallows 



FROM GALLEY BENCH TO THRONE 63 

of the shore, and caught the Venetian squadron 
between two fires. A dense shower of shot and 
arrows enveloped the Christian ships. Their com- 
mander fell, and for a moment the chances 
wavered ; but rallying in a supreme effort, the 
Venetians beat off the enemy, and captured the 
corsair, Kara Ali. 

The fiercest struggle was on the left wing, and 
the heat of the battle fell on Ochiali, who, at the 
head of his Barbary squadron, was the most brill- 
iant and distinguished figure in the Turkish ar- 
mament on that memorable day. Wheeling and 
skimming with his swift ships in a series of bewil- 
dering manoeuvres, like a hawk around his prey, 
the crafty corsair suddenly dashed through the 
opposing line, and rounded up in the rear of the 
disconcerted and astonished Christians. Then, 
swooping down upon the small squadron of the 
Knights of Malta, he carried fire and sword 
upon the ships of the white cross banner. 
Knight after knight fell at his post, fighting 
with heroic ardor; the Prior was pierced with 
arrow wounds, his eapitana captured, and the 
banner of St. John dragged down and borne 
away as a trophy. 

But Ochiali's brilliant dash was of no avail, 
and the day was already irretrievably lost to the 
Turks. The Marquis of Santa Crux bore down 
upon him ; Don John swept around from the 
centre ; and the redoubtable corsair, the most 



64 SEA-WOLVES OF SEyE:^^ SHORES 

skilful of the Turkish leaders, drew his vessels 
in good order out of battle. 

The Turks were overwhelmingly defeated. 
Their losses were enormous. Two hundred of 
their galleys were captured, burnt, or sunk. The 
remainder retreated to Constantinople. Ochiali, 
however, arrived there with some show of distinc- 
tion, for he at least had brought with him the 
banner of the Knights of Malta to hang up in St. 
Sophia. And the Sultan received him with favor, 
appointed him captain-pasha, and confirmed him 
in his Barbary sovereignty. His reputation spread 
among the Turkish dominions, and he was looked 
upon as the most powerful of all Ottoman com- 
manders. 

On the borders of the Black Sea Ochiali built 
for himself a sumptuous palace, a magnificent 
mosque, and an imposing sepulchre. There he 
lived in state, when he was not on the war-path, 
with a household of five hundred renegades whom 
he called his children. He was tall and robust, 
bald-headed, with a voice so strange and hoarse 
that it could not be heard even a few feet away, 
and a humor so changeable and yet so decided 
that he adopted a special mode of dress to warn 
people of the mood he happened to be in. When 
he was seen in gay colors, it was considered safe 
to address him. But when he was dressed in 
black from head to foot, no one dared to speak 
to him : that was a sure token that he must not 



FROM GALLEY BENCH TO THRONE 65 

be approached on any business, however press- 
ing. 

Ochiali was the last of the great corsair kings. 
He was the most powerful, the shrewdest, and in 
some ways the ablest of the line. After his death 
the Barbary buccaneers degenerated into a pack 
of petty pirates, cruel, deceitful, harassing, un- 
scrupulous, and despicable, the thorn and the dis- 
grace of Europe, which tore and humiliated her 
for more than two hundred years to come. 



CHAPTER VI 
PIRATE SLAVES AND SHIPS 

It has sometimes happened that pirates have 
amused themselves by writing books. In fact, it 
grew to be the fashion among the buccaneers of 
the Caribbean Sea to adopt the literary profession 
after retiring from business, just as now lawyers 
and bankers, tramps and convicts, turn authors 
and publish novels. But though the newspapers 
of our day frequently insinuate that there is a 
subtle connection between piracy and the pen, it 
is at least a somewhat rare occurrence for a great 
and world-famed writer to have been the slave 
of pirates. 

The most renowned man who ever bore the 
chains of Algerine captivity was Cervantes, and 
in Don Quixote he has immortalized his five years' 
servitude. He had fought with conspicuous gal- 
lantry at the battle of Lepanto, where he had 
been severely wounded in the left hand and 
maimed for life. Although he had lost the use of 
his hand, it did not prevent him from carrying 
arms, and he served for several years afterward 
in the Mediterranean, under Don John of Austria. 
In 1575 he obtained leave of absence to revisit his 

66 



PIRATE SLAVES AND SHIPS 67 

native country, and set sail from Naples for the 
coast of Spain. 

The ship El Sol^ on which Cervantes took pas- 
sage for home, was leisurely shaping her way across 
the Mediterranean. His brother Rodrigo was also 
on board, and several other soldiers who had 
fought under the " Holy League." They dreamed 
of their home, of Spain, their beloved land ; they 
could almost see its distant shores, so far had the 
El Sol sailed on her course. To the left lay the 
treacherous coast of Barbary. 

Suddenly an alarm, a rush to arms, the sails 
pressed on, the rowers urged with the whip, and 
the good El Sol is scudding through the water at 
full speed with three swift pirate galleys on her 
heels. A shower of missiles, a running fight ; 
on and on come the Algerines ; they are close to 
the fleeing ship, they are alongside ; now they 
board her, a swarm of villanous-looking cutthroats 
scramble over her sides and leap yelling on to 
the deck. 

A short, hard struggle, in which Cervantes with 
his one arm dealt blows to right and left, and then 
the Spaniards were overpowered, made prisoners, 
and loaded with irons. Cervantes fell into the 
hands of a brutal and inhuman corsair captain. Deli 
Mami. Heavy chains and harsh treatment were 
his portion on the voyage to Algiers, where he 
was carried captive, and thrown into a den of 
slaves. Letters that were found on him from 



68 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES ! 

Don John of Austria and others high in political \ 

and military life led his captors to believe that he I 

was a person of rank and consequence. He was j 

bought from his first master by Hassan Pasha, I 

viceroy of Algiers, a renegade unspeakably cruel 1 

and bloodthirsty, and was held at a high ransom. I 
Although set apart from the common slaves who 

were condemned to hard or menial labor, he was j 

treated with unusual severity and watchfulness. i 

Cervantes' captivity was one of the most rigor- j 

ous on record in the annals of Algerine slavery, i 

yet such was his personal magnetism and the ^ 

influence of his brilliant and fearless spirit on ; 
all those around him, that he escaped brutal or 
inhuman treatment. Never in the long five years 

of his servitude was he touched by hand or lash. \ 

Threats of torture, death, and horrible punish- i 

ment left him unmoved, and for some strange ^ 

reason were never carried out. His wit, his J 

cheerfulness, his intrepidity, always won him par- | 
don, and no greater penalty than the doubling of 

his chains. j 

This same remarkable influence was felt by his 1 

fellow-captives. For them he was ready to sacri- j 

fice his life ; he cheered them, fed them, encour- i 

aged them, and was untiring in his efforts to save ; 

them. His courage, generosity, and constancy j 

were unfailing. High and low were enthusiastic \ 

in their love and admiration for the man whose \ 
spirit was never broken, whose hope was never 



PIEATE SLAVES a:N^D SHIPS 69 

quenched, whose energy was as unselfish as it was 
inexhaustible. 

Time after time he attempted to escape ; re- 
sourceful and daring to the last degree, he con- 
cocted clever plans and made repeated rash 
attempts to regain his liberty and that of his 
friends. Once he tried to reach the Spanish 
town of Oran on foot ; another time an armed 
Spanish ship was to appear in the harbor and 
carry off the fugitives. He concealed and fed 
as many as fifty escaped captives whom he led 
one by one to a large cave on the shore, only to 
be betrayed and discovered. Always his attempts 
miscarried through the treachery or cowardice 
of one of those whom he was trying to save, and 
he was finally shut up in the strong palace prison 
from which there was no possibility of escape. 

But his release came at last. For years his 
family and friends had been exerting every effort 
and influence to raise the ransom. Finally the 
sum was collected and sent to Algiers, and Cer- 
vantes was a free man. 

As many as twenty-five thousand Christian 
slaves sometimes filled at one time the great 
prisons of Algiers, and few of them were as for- 
tunate as Cervantes in regaining their liberty or 
in escaping cruel punishment. Terrible sufferings 
and harsh treatment were the lot of the wretched 
captives who were condemned to hard labor. 
We feel special pity for the galley-slaves who 



70 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

toiled and sweated at the heavy oars. These 
were always Christians who were taken captive 
from the decks of war-galleons or merchant- 
galleys, or were snatched from their homes on the 
sunny shores of Spain or Italy. So assured and 
audacious had the pirates become, and so familiar 
with the coasts of Christendom, that they " very 
deliberately, even at noon-day, or indeed just 
Avhen they please, leap ashore, and walk on with- 
out the least dread, and advance into the country, 
ten, twelve, or fifteen leagues or more ; and the 
poor Christians, thinking themselves secure, are 
surprised unawares ; many towns, villages, and 
farms sacked ; and infinite numbers of men, 
women, and children dragged away into a 
wretched captivity." So writes one of the old 
Spanish chroniclers. 

The fleets with which the corsairs levied toll 
on the seas and terrorized powerful nations were 
never large. At times they counted as few as 
seven or eight vessels ; at other times as many as 
thirty-five, and of these some were galleys, some 
were medium-sized galleots, and a few were small, 
swift brigantines. In fact, all the pirate ships 
were fast runners. They were lightly built, easily 
managed, capital at a chase, and showed a clean 
keel in escape. They could either follow or flee 
at pleasure, and in point of speed could not be 
beaten. But their guns were poor, and in a 
pitched fight they ran the risk of being badly 



PIRATE SLAVES AND SHIPS 71 

battered. This, however, they were clever in 
avoiding. 

The tactics of the pirates were those of the sur- 
prise and the ambuscade. They would stowaway 
their sails to avoid being seen at a distance, and 
lurk among the shadows of a rocky promontory, 
ready to pounce upon their prey. Then a sudden 
rush, an unprepared and bewildered foe, a hand-to- 
hand struggle, chains and captivity, and all was 
over. 

What were these swift sea-hawks like ? We 
must picture to ourselves a long, narrow boat, with 
pointed beak, carrying only one or two sails, sent 
skimming through the water by the dip of fifty- 
four oars and the straining of two hundred and 
seventy pairs of arms. The success or failure of 
the chase depends, then, on these strong arms and 
backs, on these Christian captives who sit below, 
protected by bulwarks. Let us look at them at 
their work. 

There they are, in the waist of the ship, between 
the two short decks at prow and poop ! Two 
rows of benches, twenty-seven on each side, run 
from deck to deck, sunk below the edge of the 
rail. Five half-naked, half-starved slaves are 
chained to each bench, their only resting-place by 
day or night. Here they sleep, and work, and 
eat, their daily portion of food being three loaves 
of bread, and water that is not of the purest. True, 
they are no worse off than the slaves on Christian 



72 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

galleys ; so it is all one. Here they sit with " one 
foot on the stretcher, the other on the bench in 
front, holding an immensely heavy oar, thirty feet 
long." They bend forward to the stern with arms 
at full reach to clear the backs of the rowers in 
front, the oar's end is shoved up, the blade catches 
the water, and the rowers throw their bodies back 
on to the bench, while the ship leaps forward 
through the waves. 

Not all the vessels are provided with so large a 
crew of rowers. The smaller galleys, the galleots, 
and the light-built brigantines are fitted out with 
fewer benches, and have only two or four slaves to 
an oar. Between the two rows of benches runs 
a narrow gangway or bridge where the boatswain 
stands guard over the rowers, using prod and whip 
to goad them to the chase. The poop deck is 
crowded with soldiers armed with muskets, bows, 
and scimiters, and on the forecastle stand the 
captain and his under officers. 

The corsairs took great pride in the neat and 
orderly appearance of their ships, in the discipline, 
alertness, and efficiency of the crew. The best 
ships and the best sailors in the Turkish fleets 
came from Barbary ; they were better manned 
and better managed than the vessels of the Porte. 
It would also seem, from the accounts of the 
writers of those days, that they outstripped the 
Christians in system and seamanship. 

"The Algerines," says an old Spanish writer, 



PIRATE SLAVES AND SHIPS 73 

" are out upon the cruise winter and summer, and 
roam the eastern and the western seas, laughing 
at the Christian galleys which lie trumpeting, 
gaming, and banquetting in the ports of Christen- 
dom." They hunt them as they would chase 
hares and rabbits, and are certain of their game, 
for their galleots are light and nimble and in 
excellent order, while the Christian galleys are 
heavy, embarrassed, and in confusion. 

The pirates seem to have had a merry wit, for 
"when at any time the Christian galleys chase 
them, their custom is, by way of game and sneer, 
to point to their fresh-tallowed poops, as they 
glide along like fishes before them." So expert 
did they become, by constant practice, in the art 
of cruising, "so daring, presumptuous, and fortu- 
nate," that after a run of a few days they would 
put back to Algiers, colors flying, guns firing, and 
bulwarks decked with brilliant cloths as the sig- 
nal that they came laden with riches in gold and 
captives. 

" Thus," concludes Haedo, the Spanish writer, 
" they have crammed most of the houses, the mag- 
azines, and all the shops of this Den of Thieves 
with gold, silver, pearls, amber, spices, drugs, silks, 
cloths, velvets, etc., whereby they have rendered 
this city the most opulent in the world." 



CHAPTER VII 
DECATUR IN AT THE FINISH 

il THINK every one will agree that it is exhilarat- 
ing to read of the corsair kings. There was some- 
thing big and broad about them. There was even 
a romantic side to their career. They were vil- 
lains, but they were stalwart villains, and although 
we do not approve of them, we find qualities to 
admire, if nothing more than physical courage, 
ability to command, and brilliant cleverness. 

But there is nothing stimulating about the 
petty thieves of Algiers, Tunis, and Tripoli, who 
entered upon the stage after the curtain had fallen 
at the death of the kings. .They were vultures 
instead of hawks. They were little rogues, mean 
and despicable in their knavery, with all the 
cruelty of wild animals left, but little of the 
courage.^ 

Of course if it had not been for the jealousies 
and rivalries between the nations of Europe, the 
tyrant thieves of Barbary could not have lived and 
prospered for two hundred years. It was extor- 
tion and blackmail on a large scale, a vast system 
of " graft," fed by commercial competition among 
the powers. A bribe of one hundred thousand 

74 



DECATUR m AT THE FINISH 75 

piastres bought immunity from piracy for Spain, 
while the trade of her enemy the French king was 
hounded and harassed. Austria paid an annual 
tribute ; Venice purchased a treaty of peace : Den- 
mark was charged fifteen thousand sequins for the 
privilege of hoisting her own flag over her con- 
sulate. 

The worst feature in the whole disgraceful 
affair was that the civilized nations of Europe not 
only sent bribes but sent consuls to the Barbary 
States, and so recognized these pirate thieves as a 
community to be treated with. The Deys took 
every advantage of Europe's folly. They were 
insolent and low-born despots who found keen 
relish in forcing the Christian consuls-general to 
creep into their august presence under a wooden 
bar, or to kiss their hands under threat of instant 
death. 

Sometimes it pleased them to throw the consuls 
into prison, seize and sell their property, and offer 
them the alternative of paying a ransom of twenty 
thousand dollars, or of having their legs and arms 
broken and their bodies cut to pieces. Under 
such circumstances the ransom was usually paid. 
One of the Danish consuls fell into disgrace with 
the Bey of Tunis for presenting to him some arms 
mounted in copper gilt instead of gold, and thirty 
Spaniards were shut up for two years in the com- 
mon prison because his Beylical Majesty was dis- 
appointed in the size of two gunboats sent to him 



76 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

from Madrid. Yet to these barbarous monsters 
the kings of England sent presents and wrote 
autograph letters in which they signed themselves 
"your loving friend." 

Even the new-born United States bought free- 
dom from depredation for her merchant shipping 
by the payment of fifty thousand dollars in cash, 
eight thousand dollars for secret service, twenty- 
eight cannon, ten thousand cannon balls, with the 
addition of gunpowder, cordage, and jewels — a 
curious mixture. 

The list of affronts and insults slavishly borne 
by the great powers and inflicted with arrogant 
swagger by the^irate rascals fills the annals of 
two hundred years. Dutch fleete, French frigates, 
and British squadrons frequently appeared before 
the Goletta, but usually sailed away again after a 
futile demonstration. The result was that Den- 
mark, Sweden, Spain, France, Holland, Great 
Britain, Italy, and the United States were terror- 
ized by a band of ruffians. Each vied Avith the 
other in her attentions to the Beys and Deys. 
When England sent a sword and six field-pieces, 
France, not to be outdone, presented a gilded 
coach and four horses. In return, Ahmed Bey 
offered the French king a gift of an Arabian 
horse, a lion and lioness, two ostriches, and four 
antelopes. Wild animals seem, indeed, an appro- 
priate present for these savages to have presented. 
"The first nation who '' struck" at the existing 



DECATUR IX AT THE FINISH 77 

state of affairs was the United States. '' Millions 
for defence ; not one cent for tribute ! " was the 
cry that in 1798 rang through the land across the 
Atlantic. The American government refused to 
pay the subsidy to Tripoli, the Bashaw declared 
war, and the young nation of the New World, 
who had scarcely recovered from her struggle for 
emancipation, was plunged into hostilities. 

The first two squadrons that were sent to the 
Mediterranean, under the command of Captain 
Dale and Captain Morris, made a naval demon- 
stration before Tripoli and patrolled the Mediterra- 
nean. They intimidated the pirates and protected 
American merchantmen^i But it was reserved 
for the third squadron under Commodore Preble, 
which reached the scene of action in 1803, to 
attack the thieves in their lairs. 

The first dramatic incident in the new campaign 
was the loss of the Philadelphia^ Captain Bain- 
bridge's thirty-six gun frigate. She had been 
assigned, together with the Vixen^ to the rigorous 
and dangerous duty of blockading the harbor of 
Tripoli. The winter season was already in full 
force, and as active operations could not be begun 
during the severe weather, the rest of the fleet 
retired to the shelter of friendly ports. The Phila- 
delphia was left to her work on an unknown coast, 
which was dotted with shoals and reefs, riddled 
with shallow inlets, and troubled with strange 
eddies and currents, and with appalling gales. 



78 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

One of these fierce winds drove tlie Philadelphia 
off her station, and a hardy blockade-rnnner that 
was speeding inshore lured her into a chase. She 
was carried far into the dangerous waters at the 
mouth of the harbor, and at the very moment 
that she was giving up the pursuit, a cry of " half- 
six " filled every one on board with consternation. 
The lead was kept going ; the helm was put hard 
down, the yards were braced sharp up, but it was 
too late. Her impetus carried her forward and 
she shot on to a reef. She was lifted several feet 
out of the water, and stuck fast on a sunken 
ledge. 

Here was a calamity ! One of the finest frig- 
ates in the squadron gripped on a rock at the very 
entrance to the enemy's harbor, a helpless target 
for the gunboats of the pirates. After the first 
instant of chill and silent horror, all was astir on 
the ship. Anchors and guns were thrown over- 
board, masts were cut away, and every effort 
made to get her off, but the swell only carried 
her higher on the reef. In a short time she 
careened and fell over on her side. 

At this monaent a division of nine Tripolitan 
gunboats swarmed out of the harbor and opened 
fire on the disabled hulk. Resistance was really 
futile, as there was scarcely a gun that could be 
brought to bear on the boats, but a gallant 
attempt at defence was made, and then, seeing 
the uselessness of it. Captain Bainbridge ordered 



DECATUR IX AT THE FINISH 79 

the flag to be hauled down. But before surren- 
dering, the magazine was flooded, holes were bored 
through the bottom of the ship, the pumps choked, 
and everything done to make the Philadelphia a 
useless wreck. 

When sure of their prey, the pirates rushed on 
board, and a scene of wild confusion followed. 
The crew was robbed ; the officers stripped of 
their epaulets, uniforms, watches, money ; the 
whole ship was plundered and looted. The 
only thing that Captain Bainbridge succeeded 
in saving, after a fierce hand-to-hand struggle, 
was the miniature of his wife. Hurrying the 
men indiscriminately into their boats, the pirates 
carried off their prisoners to Tripoli, and there 
they were shut up, by order of the Bashaw, in 
the dank and loathsome prison of the castle. 

A week later the wind veered, lifting the 
Philadelphia off the rocks and driving her into 
deep water. The pirates finished what the wind 
had begun, and the ship was towed into the har- 
bor, and anchored under the batteries of the cas- 
tle ; her holes were plugged, her guns replaced, 
she was manned by a full crew of Turks, and 
turned into a strong reenforcement to the defences 
of the town. 

This was a disastrous beginning to the war. 
The entire success of the expedition and the honor 
of the American navy turned on the fate of the 
Philadelphia. Every officer in the squadron was 



80 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

aghast when the news reached them, and Captain 
Preble realized the full severity of the blow, not 
only to his fighting force, but to his prestige. 
Three hundred and fifteen American prisoners in 
the castle dungeon, and a large American frigate 
moored under the castle guns, was a tremendous 
moral advantage to the Bashaw. 

Three months after the fatal catastrophe off 
Tripoli, a second and more thrilling episode was 
preparing in this exciting sea-drama. Captain 
Preble had not been indifferent or inactive in 
all those weeks. He had been maturing plans 
and making preparations, and the moment had 
come for action. An enterprise of great daring 
and enormous risk was on foot. It had been kept 
a close secret between the commander and one 
or two trusted officers. But now it began to leak 
out, and there was a rush of volunteers. Men 
begged and clamored for the honor of enlisting in 
a venture that meant almost certain destruction. 

It was Captain Bainbridge from behind his 
prison walls who managed to smuggle out a let- 
ter to Preble suggesting the plan of destroying 
the Philadelphia at her moorings. When Lieu- 
tenant Stephen Decatur of the Enterprise heard 
of it he leaped to the idea, and volunteered 
for the service. Daring, resolute, self-controlled, 
fearless, cool, and quick of mind, he was the 
very man to lead the enterprise. Captain Preble 
at once gave him the command, and there was 



DECATUR IN AT THE FINISH 81 

no difficulty in getting a crew ; it was a case 
of choosing, for all were eager to serve. 

A Tripolitan ketch, or gunboat, had been 
recently captured. Although she was an old, 
crazy, and uncomfortable craft, she was the very 
boat for the desperate venture, as her peculiar 
Mediterranean rig would deceive the enemy. She 
was promptly armed, fitted, and loaded with 
combustibles of every kind; and her name was 
changed to the Intrepid, Decatur's orders were 
to enter the harbor of Tripoli with as much speed 
and secrecy as possible, get alongside the Philadel- 
phia^ board her, overpower the crew, distribute the 
combustibles on the ship and set fire to them, 
and then retreat from the harbor — if he could. 
The brig Siren was to hover around the entrance 
to the port in order to cover the retreating party. 

Daring ventures have been frequently attempted; 
young ofQcers of spirit, dash, patriotism, and cour- 
age are seldom wanting to serve in some hazard- 
ous enterprise for the honor of the flag, but it is 
seldom that an attempt however cleverly devised 
is carried out with such brilliant success in every 
detail as was the destruction of the Philadelphia. 

It may have been partly good fortune with 
Decatur, but it was chiefly good judgment, self- 
control, and knowing when to do the right thing 
at the right instant. 

On the evening of the 3d of February, 1804, 
the ketch Intrepid set sail from Syracuse, where 



82 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHOKES 

the squadron was anchored, and stretched across 
the Mediterranean, under convoy of the Siren. 
There were seventy-four men on board, and the 
accommodations were of the slenderest. Decatur 
and three lieutenants and the surgeon were 
crowded into the very small cabin. Six midship- 
men and the pilot were allotted a platform on 
the water casks. On the opposite side were the 
marines on another platform, and the sailors slept 
on the casks in the hold. This was not all ; for the 
preparations had been made with haste, and the 
salted meat turned out to be spoiled ; so their fare 
consisted of biscuit and water for sixteen days. 

After a sail of six days Tripoli was sighted, and 
all were eager to make the attempt that night. 
But a fierce gale suddenly began to blow ; the 
night was black and threatening ; the ketch tossed 
on the Avaters ; and the waves were dashed with 
fury against the reefs and rocks. " To go in 
would be dangerous, to come out impossible." 
This was the report of the Maltese pilot who had 
been sent in a boat with muffled oars to examine 
the bar. Reluctantly orders were given to haul 
off ; and none too soon, for the gale increased with 
such violence that it was almost daylight before 
they were out of sight of the town. 

For six days the storm continued with undimin- 
ished fury. The little ketch was beaten and buf- 
feted and in danger of foundering. The men 
had no rest and were living on prison fare. At 



DECATUR IN AT THE FINISH 83 

last the wind slackened, and on the morning 
of February 16th Tripoli was again sighted. The 
sea was smooth, the weather fair, the winds light. 
With sails set, and drags pulling from behind to 
lessen the speed, the Intrepid slowly approached 
the harbor. At ten o'clock in the evening she 
drifted in on a light breeze. 

The harbor lay bathed in the light of the moon ; 
the countless lights of the town were reflected in 
the water, and outlined the shapes of the vessels 
lying at anchor in the port. There was the huge 
bulk of the Philadelphia under the very jaws of 
the castle batteries at the extreme inner sweep 
of the white city walls. Her guns were mounted 
and double shotted. Behind were the fortresses 
defended by a hundred and fifteen heavy guns 
and twenty-five thousand Turks and Arabs. On 
each side stretched out a line of twenty -four gun- 
boats, galleys, and schooners, moored behind an 
impassable wall of rocks and shoals. 

The Intrepid was advancing steadily and in pro- 
found silence. She shaped her course straight for 
the Philadelphia, Most of the crew were con- 
cealed behind the bulwarks, lying flat on the deck, 
ready to spring at the first word of command. A 
few, dressed in Maltese costume, stood in full view. 
Decatur had taken his stand by the pilot. Sud- 
denly the silence was broken by a hail, as the 
ketch crept softly toward the Philadelphia' s bow. 
Catalano, the pilot, answered it in facile Tri- 



84 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

politanese, while Decatur prompted him at his 
ear. 

The ketch, said Catalano, was from Malta, and 
on the voyage had been badly damaged in a vio- 
lent gale, losing her anchors among other mishaps. 
They therefore begged permission to make fast 
to the frigate's cables until morning. By now 
the Intrepid was almost alongside, and the Turks 
were peering curiously over the bulwarks. But 
no suspicion had been aroused, and the commander 
granted the request. 

But at this moment the treacherous breeze 
shifted, and a puff took the ketch aback and left 
her abeam about twenty yards from the frigate. 
This was the moment of gravest danger. One 
broadside would have sent the Intrepid to instant 
destruction. The slightest movement of alarm 
would have been fatal. But Decatur, cool and 
unmoved, gave his orders in leisurely fashion, as 
if nothing of importance had ever been done, and 
time were of no value. A boat was lowered and 
a rope fastened to the frigate's forechains ; with 
a steady pull the men, lying concealed on deck, 
brought the ketch into position. 

Almost simultaneously the yell " Americanos ! 
Americanos!" and Decatur's sharp cry "Board!" 
rang out on each vessel. A rush, a spring, and 
the Americans leaped over the bulwarks and 
swarmed on deck, cutlass and boarding-pike in 
hand. The Turks came tumbling and howling 



DECATUR m AT THE FIXISH 85 

up the hatchway, and collected in a huddled group 
on the forecastle, where they stood dazed and 
frightened. Decatur sprang forward at the head 
of his men and cleared the deck. After a short 
struggle the Turks plunged overboard, out of the 
ports and over the rails, in a mad flight. The 
boarders then dashed below, where they met with 
little resistance ; in ten minutes the frigate was 
theirs. 

The parties now separated and quickly started 
the work of firing. Combustibles were handed 
up from the ketch and distributed in storerooms, 
steerage, berth deck, wardroom, and cockpit. 
The piles were lighted, and in twenty minutes the 
American crew was dashing back into the ketch. 
As they shoved off from the frigate's side the 
flames were already bursting from the hatches and 
pouring through the ports. Before the sweeps 
could be manned the fire had leaped up ropes and 
rigging, but a few steady strokes carried the little 
Intrepid out of danger, and the men rested on 
their oars while they looked back at the burning 
ship. 

It was a magnificent sight. The great tongues 
of flame, like fiery serpents, licked the sides of the 
frigate, and curled and twisted around her hull 
until she seemed caught tight in their burning em- 
brace. Liquid masses of fire rushed up the masts 
and shrouds. The red glow lighted every corner 
of the harbor. Just then a ringing cheer of exul- 



86 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

tation from the ketch was answered by a gun of 
warning from the shore. 

The Americans bent again to their sweeps, and 
the Intrepid swung steadily along the brilliant 
pathway, the target of a hundred guns. Batteries 
and gunboats poured their shot after the retreat- 
ing boat ; a shower of missiles fell on all sides, 
but the Turks' aim was nervous and poor. Only 
one shot hit the ketch through her top-gallant sail. 
And as the gallant crew were fairly on their way 
to safety, a salute was sent by the spirits of the 
fire to the victors. Boom after boom reverberated 
over the water. The guns of the Philadelphia^ 
heated by the fire, discharged their shot, and sent 
their last greeting. Then a terrific explosion, a 
thousand blazing fragments hurled into the air, 
and the good frigate sank to the bottom. 

Decatur and his men reached the Siren with the 
tidings of their success, and immediately sails were 
hoisted and the two boats sped back to Syracuse, 
where Captain Preble awaited the result with 
almost unbearable anxiety. Salutes and congratu- 
lations greeted the heroes as they rounded up 
in the Sicilian harbor. The fame of their exploit 
spread over Europe, and reached the British 
blockading fleet before Toulon, where Nelson 
was heard to say that it was " the most bold and 
daring act of the age." 

This was the turning-point of the war. The 
pirates had been humbled, their arrogance had 



DECATUR IN AT THE FINISH 87 

been broken. It only remained for the squad- 
ron to complete the work that the bold adven- 
turers had begun. Early in the summer Captain 
Preble gave orders to weigh, and leading off in 
the frigate Constitution he stood out to sea, fol- 
lowed by three brigs, three schooners, and a divi- 
sion of gunboats and bomb vessels. But the 
squadron ran into foul weather and beat up 
against a boisterous northwesterly gale, so that it 
was early in August before they sighted Tripoli. 

The Tripolitans had spent the interval in mak- 
ing ready for the assault, and had stationed a 
strong force of fourteen gunboats at the two 
entrances to the harbor to form the vanguard of 
defence. They were bent on disputing step by 
step the advance of the Americans, and they gave 
our squadron some warm work. Five spirited 
attacks were made during the month of August. 
The large vessels bombarded the town, pouring 
a rain of shot and shell into the fortifications and 
the batteries. Meanwhile the division of gun- 
boats, commanded by Decatur, Somers, Bainbridge, 
and others of the young officers, made a series of 
dashing assaults on the gunboats of the enemy. 
In these fierce hand-to-hand conflicts the Tripoli- 
tans lost six of their boats, and were completely 
routed. The damage to the town was severe, the 
batteries were silenced, and much of the shipping 
badly injured. 

The last act in the campaign was the intrepid 



88 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

and tragic attempt made by Somers and a handful 
of men to set fire to the shipping in the harbor of 
Tripoli. The successful exploit of the burning 
of the Philadelphia had emboldened the Ameri- 
cans to further ventures, but had also aroused the 
watchfulness of the Tripolitans. It was with far 
more desperate risks than Decatur had had to face 
that Somers set out on his expedition. The same 
ketch Intrepid^ which had already passed through 
one fiery ordeal, was fitted up as a floating mine ; 
a hundred barrels of powder, a hundred and fifty 
shells, splinters, shot, kentledge, and all kinds of 
inflammable material, with fuses attached, filled 
the hold, storeroom, and deck. 

In this slumbering volcano two officers, Richard 
Somers and Henry Wadsworth, and ten men em- 
barked on their heroic undertaking. The ketch 
was to make her way in the guise of a blockade- 
runner between the jaws of deadly batteries and 
through the midst of Turkish gunboats, into the 
verj^ heart of the harbor. The last that was seen of 
her and of her brave crew was on the night of the 
4th of September, when she spread her wings and 
vanished into the shadows of the heavy mist that 
hung low over the water. A few moments later 
the boom of a gun and the dull roar of artillery 
showed that she had been discovered. Suddenly 
a vivid blaze of fire, a gigantic torch of flame leap- 
ing upward, and then a rending explosion which 
shook the town and quivered through the ships 



DECATUR IN AT THE FLNTISH 89 

in the offing : that was the last of the gallant 
band. 

The war was now practically at an end. Cap- 
tain Preble was relieved, and the chief act of his 
successor was to sign a treaty of peace with the 
Bashaw, which exempted the United States from 
the payment of tribute and freed her merchant 
vessels for all time to come from the depredations 
of the pirates. 

A few years later an American squadron ap- 
peared off Algiers, and forced the Dey to make 
a similar treaty, abolishing both tribute and slav- 
ery. The spirited attitude and brilliant success 
of the United States opened the eyes of Europe, 
and our example was soon followed by Great 
Britain and France. The final blow to the exist- 
ence of the Barbary pirates was dealt by the 
French when they conquered Algiers in 1830, and 
later subdued Tunis, and transformed them into 
French provinces. The old dens of the corsairs 
have since become the peaceful and prosaic resorts 
of traders. 



CHAPTER VIII 
A PIRATE ADMIRAL 

The age of Philip II of Spain and Alva, of 
'' Bloody " Mary and Queen Elizabeth of England, 
was the golden age of piracy. The Inquisition 
was a great breeding establishment for pirates. 
Religious persecutions drove men into a life of 
vagabondage, and the sea became the only safe 
asylum for those who fled from tyranny and tor- 
ture. The tremendous upheaval that followed 
the outbreak of the Reformation, the frenzied 
strife between Catholic and Protestant, the horrors 
of the persecutions in the Netherlands, threw the 
countries that bordered on the Channel and the 
North Sea into a fiery tumult that resembled a 
huge volcanic eruption. And in this eruption an 
immense number of firebrands were scattered over 
the waters. 

In this general state of confusion it is not sur- 
prising that fine distinctions disappear. Pirates 
were patriots, and patriots pirates, and privateers 
were both, and they were all mixed up in politics. 
It was just as if the witches had taken a great 
caldron and mixed all these ingredients together, 
— piracy, privateering, politics, and patriotism, — 

90 



A PIRATE ADMIRAL 91 

and had produced out of the compound a Beggar of 
the Sea, a Channel Rover, or a French free-lance. 
These were the Sea-Wolves of Protestantism. 

Holland was in the very heart and heat of the 
witches' caldron. She was the centre of the re- 
ligious and party struggle and of the popular tur- 
moil. On her had fallen all the fury of the storm. 
Oppressed, impoverished, and persecuted by the 
Spanish tyrants who were her masters, she had 
been screwed down to the last point of endurance. 
Her people were paupers, and the whole land was 
red with innocent blood, but her spirit was still 
unbroken. Well did she deserve to adopt the 
motto, " I struggle, but I overcome," when at last 
she had freed herself as a united people from the 
hated rule of Catholic Spain. 

The Protestant malcontents and champions of 
liberty had banded themselves together under the 
leadership of the Prince of Orange. Maddened 
by the atrocities of King Philip of Spain and of 
Alva, driven to despair by an inhuman tyranny, 
the confederates were gradually forming into a 
large and formidable party scattered over the 
entire country. As yet they had not been em- 
boldened or exasperated into a revolution, and 
were still trying to improve the condition of the 
country by a series of complaints, appeals, and 
petitions. 

It was at this time that they were scornfully 
and derisively dubbed by their opponents with 



92 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

the nickname of "Beggars." A deputation of 
four hundred of the patriot alliance went to 
Brussels to present a petition to Margaret, the 
governess-regent of the Netherlands. The coun- 
cil of state was in session at the time. The pro- 
cession of Dutch nobles, on foot, unarmed, and 
plainly dressed, marched four abreast to the hall. 
On seeing this formidable array, the regent was 
alarmed, fearing an attack or outbreak of some 
kind. To calm her, the minister leaned over and 
exclaimed, " What, Madame, you are not afraid 
of a troop of beggars ! " The taunt was caught 
up and repeated from mouth to mouth. 

That night there was a banquet given to the 
deputation by Brederode, and their new sobriquet 
was taken up first in jest, then in earnest, and the 
cry, " Long live the Beggars ! " rang through the 
hall. "It was no shame," they said, "to be beg- 
gars for their country's good." The word was 
immediately accepted as their party name and 
party badge, and it became the rally cry of the 
Calvinist confederates. The mendicants' costume 
of gray cloth was adopted for their dress, the 
wallet and wooden cup for their emblem, and a 
gold or silver coin for their badge. 

As the patriot party grew, including men of 
every class and occupation, nobles, merchants, 
tradesmen, sailors, peasants, there came to be sub- 
divisions. The rougher and more unruly of the 
malcontents took to the woods, turned bandits. 



A PIRATE AD]\nRAL 93 

and were called the " Wild Beggars." Those who 
loved the adventurous and independent life of the 
sea took to their boats, turned pirates, and became 
the famous " Beggars of the Sea." 

Holland had, so far, been a country of intrepid 
but peaceful seafaring people. She had been 
battling with the ocean ever since her birth, and 
had bred generations of skilful, fearless, and stub- 
born seamen. Now that their land had been laid 
waste and their liberties crushed, this nation of 
traders, fishers, and carriers, turned into a nation 
of corsairs and sea-fighters. Mariners and mer- 
chants, hounded from their homes, fled to the 
broad refuge of the water they loved and knew so 
well, and formed a band of marine outlaws who 
became the terror of the North Sea. 

The Prince of Orange was advised to make use 
of these piratical bands, and organize them into a 
strong naval force for the patriot cause. He made 
an attempt to form a regular fleet of privateers- 
men out of the wild ocean rebels, and issued 
letters of marque authorizing the '' Beggars of the 
Sea" to cruise against Spanish ships and harass 
Spanish commerce. But these beggars were an 
untamed, unruly set, and it was hard to marshal a 
pack of roving corsairs into an organized fleet. 
They remained independent of all control, and the 
orders issued by Orange to enforce discipline and 
system did not result in subduing their reckless 
and lawless spirit. Neither commissions nor 



94 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

commands could hold in check the rapacious 
wolves who scoured the sea and preyed on foe and 
friend. And even the admirals appointed by 
the prince were as fierce and savage as their 
f reebooting followers. 

The most notorious of these pirate admirals was 
the ferocious William de la Marck, a descendant 
of that earlier William, called the Wild Boar of 
Ardennes, who seized the castle of Godfrey de 
Bouillon, and started a line of untamed and san- 
guinary nobles. The admiral of the Beggars was 
as vehement and turbulent as any of his race. In 
appearance he was wild and shaggy. His beard 
and hair grew long and unkempt, for he had sworn 
to leave them unshorn until the crimes of Spain 
had been avenged. Together with many others 
he had been present at the execution of his illus- 
trious relation, the Count of Egmont, condemned 
without a hearing by Alva and the council of blood, 
and beheaded in the horse-market at Brussels. 

The execution of this nobleman of high and 
ancient descent excited the most intense horror 
and grief among the thousands of Netherlanders 
who crowded around the scaffold. Strong men 
knelt in uncontrolled anguish, dipped their hand- 
kerchiefs in the blood of the victim, and vowed 
after the manner of their savage ancestors, to leave 
their hair and beards uncut until the death of 
Egmont had been avenged. William de la 
Marck was one of these. 



A PIKATE ADMIRAL 95 

Under the standard of the admiral of the Sea- 
Beggars collected many disaffected noblemen, 
ruined merchants, rough mariners, and well- 
known pirates. It was a fleet of beggared 
adventurers, without means of support excepting 
plunder, who roved the North Sea, the English 
Channel, and even swept out into the ocean in 
search of vessels to seize and sack. It mattered 
little to the hungry Beggars whether trading- 
vessels were Spanish, neutral, or even Dutch; 
the booty was as welcome to them, whatever its 
nationality. They had been driven to the sea 
by despair, and in despair kept themselves alive 
at any one's cost. In a land filled with ruin and 
sorrow, more and more took to the free and open 
sea, and to the reckless life of the outlaw. De 
la Marck's fleet grew rapidly; ship after ship, 
fitted out at some Dutch port, and easily pro- 
vided with authorization from the Prince of 
Orange, joined the admiral's forces. Several 
valuable merchant vessels fell into their hands, 
and the news of the rich booty attracted others 
to the ranks. 

But there were many hungry men to feed, and 
prizes were uncertain. Days passed without the 
sign of a merchant sail. Traders were beginning 
to dread the lawless freebooters, and fewer vessels 
were sent out. The Beggars could not forever 
sail in mid-seas and starve under the blue skies. 
Then, too, they had to sell or barter their plunder 



96 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

for food ; so they sought shelter in friendly ports. 
The harbors of the Netherlands were closed to 
them by the agents of Alva ; only in the north- 
ernmost hidden creeks of Friesland could they 
find refuge. 

Denmark and Sweden had also shut their doors 
on the Beggars ; they had no intention of har- 
boring pirates or of bringing upon themselves 
the displeasure of the relentless Alva, and they 
turned them away from their ports. But in 
England, Germany, and France they were toler- 
ated ; at Dover, Emden, and La Rochelle they 
found a market for their stolen goods and laid in 
stores of provisions. 

In Dover roads De la Marck made his head- 
quarters. There he was joined by scores of Eng- 
lish rovers, and together they swept the Channel. 
They were masters of the Straits ; no vessel could 
pass unchallenged, and Spanish ships were chased 
and captured. Many an exciting race dashed past 
the ramparts of Dover Castle ; Spanish merchant- 
men with every sail set showing their heels in mad 
flight, De la Marck in hot pursuit plunging head- 
long after them. Then, growing daring, the Beg- 
gars spread southward to the ocean, and raided 
Spanish ports ; they harassed the coast, pillaged 
churches, and carried off rich plunder of silver 
and plate to their nest at Dover. Not content 
with this, they sped northward and swooped down 
upon the islands of the North Sea. They even 



A PIRATE AD:\nRAL 97 

landed on the coasts of Holland and Friesland, 
robbed convents, and attacked villages. 

The Dutch pirates had become a serious menace. 
Their depredations finally roused Alva to active 
steps, and he sent a squadron of war-ships to run 
them out of their lair. When the armed ships of 
the Spaniards appeared in the offing, De la Marck 
and Brederode were tempted to sail boldly out 
and meet them in open battle. But their light 
vessels, which were clever at running down and 
capturing merchantmen, were not so good at hold- 
ing their own against the heavy fire of men-of-war. 
Some raking broadsides made them turn on their 
heels and retreat under cover of the castle. And 
now came a new turn to affairs. The English 
resented this invasion of their waters and the 
sacred right of sanctuary, and opened fire from 
the batteries. 

The fortress guns played havoc among the 
Spanish ships, and they retreated in disorder out 
to sea. This was the chance for the Beggars. 
They were quick at the harassing game, and their 
boats sped out in chase ; they hung upon the 
Spanish rear, ready to swoop upon the laggards 
which had been battered by the English shot. 
Several vessels were brought in, and not only was 
the booty sold, but even the Spanish officers were 
put up at auction in the market-place, and bought 
on speculation at a hundred pounds a head. The 
purchasers hoped to make a fortune by their ran- 



98 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

som, arid meanwhile held their prisoners, or slaves, 
in chains. 

Alva's attempt to hunt down the freebooters 
had not been successful, so he turned to other 
means. He sent peremptory complaints to Queen 
Elizabeth, demanding that she should cease to 
harbor rebels and pirates, and should turn them 
out of her waters. Elizabeth was too much afraid 
of King Philip not to comply outwardly, for her 
own relations with Spain were at the straining 
point, and she issued an order forbidding her sub- 
jects to supply the freebooters with bread, beer, 
or meat. De la Marck was commanded to leave 
her ports, under penalty of being treated as a 
pirate, and the last asylum of the Beggars of the 
Sea was rudely taken away from them. 



CHAPTER IX 
THE BEGGAKS OF THE SEA 

When the Beggars were requested to leave the 
shores of England, they were left without a refuge 
in the whole of Europe. The other nations had 
already driven them from their harbors from fear 
of Alva, and the Dutch pirate patriots were 
vagrants and wanderers on the sea. Still, the 
orders of Elizabeth had not been carried out with 
severity. De la Marck had lingered for a month 
in Dover roads, after the papers of eviction had 
reached him, and it is not likely that the English 
traders could resist the allurements of buccaneer 
gold. The admiral was waiting, too, for a Span- 
ish merchant fleet that was soon expected to pass 
through the Straits. 

Late in March, 1572, the white sail of the 
traders, puffed out by the breeze as the heavily 
laden vessels leisurely made their way toward 
Antwerp, filled the Beggars with excitement. 
De la Marck was ready for a start, and he dashed 
out of the harbor in hot pursuit. The merchant- 
men crowded on the canvas and fled pell-mell as 
fast as their groaning yards and bulging sail would 
carry them. But the Beggars caught up with the 

99 

LofC. 



100 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

tail of the convoy, captured two rich prizes, and 
tossed their crews unceremoniously overboard. It 
was a rich haul, for one of the vessels alone was 
worth sixty thousand crowns. The last that was 
seen of the Beggars from Dover cliff, they were 
still racing out to sea after the flying fleet. 

Whether as the result of chance and starvation, 
or of a deep-laid scheme, the Beggar squadron of 
twenty-four vessels suddenly appeared at the 
mouth of the Meuse, and anchored before Brille at 
the southern end of Holland. Driven to despera- 
tion, they were determined to gain a foothold on 
their own land. They had heard that Brille was 
without a garrison, and thought it a good moment 
to strike a blow. When the inhabitants awoke 
early on the morning of April 1st, they were thun- 
derstruck to see a strange fleet under their walls. 
Were these the ferocious Beggars at their gates ? 
Had De la Marck, the terror of every town along 
the seaboard, come to sack the city ? People 
were seized with panic, and crowded to the docks 
to hear the news. 

A ferryman, who was himself a patriot and 
secretly sympathized with the rebel cause, rowed 
confidently out to the fleet. He was all interest 
and excitement to know what they intended to do. 
The first object of the Beggars was a material one. 
They needed provisions ; there were about four 
hundred men on board, and not a scrap of food 
left. Captain Brand, who was faint with hunger. 



THE BEGGARS OF THE SEA 101 

had been given a piece of cheese for breakfast, the 
last grain of food on board. It was absolutely 
necessary to get supplies. 

De la Marck seems to have thought only of their 
pressing needs ; any slumbering patriotism was 
forgotten when hunger gnawed mercilessly with 
its sharp fangs. But fortunately for the fate of 
Holland, one of his commanders, William of Tres- 
long, was a man of spirit and of more lofty purpose. 
He was one of the most famous of the water-rebels, 
and came of a well-known line of fighting nobles. 
Instantly he saw the chance for a bold stroke. 
Take matters into their own hands, and they could 
win a victory for the patriot cause. It was an 
enterprise that appealed to his adventurous spirit. 
He hurried to the admiral and urged him to de- 
mand the surrender of the town. His enthusiasm 
won over De la Marck, who entered into the 
scheme with zest. 

When the ferryman returned to Brille, it was 
with a summons to the magistrates of the city. 
They were asked, under the mouth of the cannon, 
to hand over the keys of the place to De la Marck, 
admiral of the Prince of Orange, and to send two 
commissioners to confer with the rebels. It was 
a daring demand to be made by four hundred 
starved Beggars, for Brille was fortified with high 
walls and defended by stout guns. But the fame 
of the redoubtable pirates had gone before them. 
Consternation seized the people, and the grave 



102 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

magistrates trembled at the thought of meeting 
the dreaded De la Marck. 

There was a general rush out of Brille. People 
seized their treasures and fled. All the rich in- 
habitants took to their heels without ceremony ; 
only a few of the poor, who had nothing to lose, 
stayed behind. The magistrates were more delib- 
erate ; they meant to escape but did not wish to 
show fear. Receiving with dignity the message 
brought by the ferryman, they asked him how 
large a force De la Marck had under him. " Oh, 
about five thousand, I should say," answered the 
man, casually. This decided the matter. Two 
deputies, with stout hearts, went forth as martyrs 
to the pirate chief. But while they were confer- 
ring on board the fleet, the rest of the lords picked 
up their chattels and ran. 

When De la Marck and Treslong, with two 
hundred and fifty men, marched to the gates two 
hours later, they came upon an almost empty city. 
The governor was just too late to escape ; he was 
on the point of retreating out of the southern gate 
when he ran into Treslong at the head of his 
party. After a short struggle the pirates made 
themselves masters of the governor and the gate. 
Meanwhile De la Marck had burned and battered 
down the northern gate, and the two divisions 
marched unopposed through the city. The ad- 
miral took formal possession in the name of the 
Prince of Orange. 



THE BEGGARS OF THE SEA 103 

Gradually the citizens began to return, finding 
that their lives and property were safe at the 
hands of the Beggars. The unscrupulous pirates 
were fast becoming exemplary patriots. Only 
the churches and the convents were plundered 
and destroyed. The rage of the infuriated Cal- 
vinists vented itself on the sacred images of the 
Catholic churches. And De la Marck, with a re- 
turn of his ferocious spirit, and remembering his 
vow, imprisoned and executed thirteen monks and 
priests. 

The fall of Brille was the signal-gun of the re- 
bellion. The half-hearted and the timid were 
fired with new resolution. As the news of the 
first bold stroke of the war flashed over the land, 
town after town rose in arms, cut down their 
Spanish garrisons, and took possession of the 
town-hall. The banner of freedom, first flung 
out to the breeze by the hands of De la Marck, was 
soon seen floating over Flushing, Leyden, and a 
dozen other cities. The champions of liberty 
took fresh heart, and the excitement and enthu- 
siasm spread like a conflagration. The revolt had 
long been planned and prepared for, only waiting 
for a spark to light the bonfire, and after all 
it was the half-despised, half -disapproved of, and 
wholly dreaded Beggars of the Sea who had dared 
to start the train. The rash inspiration of a mo- 
ment was the salvation of Holland, and the first 
stone of Dutch independence. De la Marck and 



104 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

Treslong, the pirate chiefs, had struck the first 
decisive blow for freedom. 

The wits had a merry jest at the expense of 
Alva. In Flemish the name of the town Brille 
means also spectacles, and the punning verse ran, 

" On April Foors Day, 
Duke Alva's spectacles were stolen away." 

The Duke shrugged his shoulders on receipt of 
the news, and said, " It is nothing ! " as was his 
wont when bad news was brought to him. But 
he hastily sent an armed force to reduce the rebels. 
Ten companies arrived before Brille and de- 
manded its surrender, and the Beggars were at 
their wits' end to know how to defend the town 
against so large a force. But there was a patriot 
carpenter in the place who was a daring man and 
who knew a secret. Axe in hand, he leaped into 
the water, swam to the Niewland sluice, and broke 
down the barriers. The sea poured in and cut off 
all approach from the north. 

This gave the rebels only one gate to defend, 
and when the besiegers veered around to the 
southern entrance, they were met by a furious dis- 
charge which broke their ranks. Then a cry went 
up from the Spaniards that their ships were on 
fire. The gallant Treslong, with a comrade, had 
rowed out to the Spanish vessels, cut their cables, 
set some on fire, and sunk others. The blazing 
ships and the fast rising sea spread a panic among 



THE BEGGARS OF THE SEA 105 

the soiclierj^ They fled precipitately along the 
wet and slimy causeway, many being drowned in 
their hurried retreat. 

The seizure of Brille, the key to the Meuse, had 
been important. Still more so was the possession 
of Flushing, which commanded the mouth of the 
river Scheldt. The inhabitants had risen against 
the Spanish garrison, and sent for aid to De la 
Marck. The admiral despatched Treslong with 
two hundred men, and the town was captured. 
The rebels had now two strong bases of opera- 
tions, from which they could cover the approach 
of any fleet passing from Spain to the northern 
countries, and they soon had a chance to use their 
advantage. 

The Duke of Medina-Celi was arriving from 
Spain with a fleet of forty vessels. Knowing 
nothing of the change of owners at Flushing, he 
sailed innocently into the Scheldt. Besides the 
ships carrying twenty-five hundred fresh Spanish 
troops, there were several rich merchant vessels in 
the fleet, laden with valuable cargoes. As the ships 
hugged the shore and came close to the town, the 
batteries were suddenly opened on them and cut 
them up with a shower of shot. 

In the confusion of this unexpected attack a 
band of the Sea-Beggars dashed out in their small 
boats and fell upon the bewildered Spaniards. 
Twenty -four vessels were boarded and captured, 
and with the ferocity of revenge the Beggars 



106 SEA-WOLYES OF SEYEIST SHORES 

drowned all their prisoners, in retaliation for the 
thousands of Netherlanders who had been hanged 
by their Spanish captors. The booty was rich, 
two hundred thousand crowns in money and five 
hundred thousand in merchandise, all of which 
went into the coffers of the confederate cause. 

Liberty swept like a whirlwind over the Neth- 
erlands. The seaboard towns were the first to 
revolt, and the control of the sea was in the hands 
of the patriots. This was the most important 
step toward the success of the rebellion, and it 
had been won by the fierce Beggars of the Sea. 
The possession of the coast-line made it possible 
for the Prince of Orange to establish a regular 
navy ; money had been pouring in, arms and re- 
cruits arrived daily, and a fleet was soon organ- 
ized. The pirates had a squadron of their own 
which took part in almost every naval operation. 
They formed a terrific auxiliary to the regular 
fleet, savage in their ferocity, but wonderfully 
disciplined, and the most skilful of Dutch seamen. 

Their small band, never more than eight hun- 
dred or a thousand strong, was frightful to look 
upon ; they were shaggy veterans, scarred, maimed, 
and blood-stained, often without an arm or a leg, 
the survivors of desperate fights. Their hatred of 
Spain and the Inquisition had taken such posses- 
sion of them that it had turned them into wild 
beasts. They never gave nor received quarter, 
and their w^ays of vengeance were those of the 



THE BEGGARS OF THE SEA 107 

most inhuman and ferocious pirates. Their lives 
were those of corsairs ; they had neither pay nor 
subsistence, but depended for their bread and 
money either on the generosity of the seaports 
where they anchored, or on occasional forays and 
the plunder from merchant ships. 

Hunger, privation, and hardships they met with 
stoical endurance. They held their lives cheaply, 
and were always ready to blow up their ship and 
themselves rather than fall into the hands of the 
enemy. Many were the stories told of their in- 
trepidity. Captain Hoen, the commander of two 
small river boats, was one of those who distin- 
guished himself for his prowess. With a crew 
of eighteen men he landed on a dike outside of 
Amsterdam and attacked a party of a hundred 
and twenty Spanish soldiers. Hemming them in 
at both ends, the pirates let fly a volley of mus- 
ketry, and then attacked the troops with the long 
poles they used in leaping ditches. As the short 
lances of the Spaniards were useless, the troops 
were driven back, only to fall on to the Beggars at 
their rear. This was kept up until not a Spaniard 
was left alive. But wild, piratical, and remorse- 
less as they were, the Sea-Beggars were the nu- 
cleus and the beginning of that world-famed 
Dutch navy which held the supremacy of the 
waters a hundred years later. 

Meanwhile William de la Marck had been made 
captain-general of the land troops, and had col- 



108 SEA-WOLYES OP SEYE^ SHORES 

lected an army of undisciplined mercenaries, who 
were both the help and the hindrance of the party. 
Their audacity in war was only matched by their 
excesses after victory. De la Marck himself was 
a man of extremes ; prompt and reckless as a 
leader, he was also brutal, overbearing, and inso- 
lent, and his cruelty was atrocious. He was 
finally deprived of his office and thrown into 
prison, and afterward ended his days as an 
exile. 

But the Beggars of the Sea continued to live 
after they had lost their most noted commander, 
and during the next two years took part in several 
important actions. It was they who helped in the 
brilliant capture of Middleburg, the chief strong- 
hold of Zealand. For nearly two years an army 
of patriots had blockaded the Spanish garrison in 
this strongly fortified town, and early in 1574 the 
Spanish admiral, Don Sanchio d'Avila, arrived 
with a fleet of forty vessels and a thousand troops 
to raise the siege. 

Before the Spanish fleet reached the mouth of 
the Scheldt, a strong patriot squadron of forty 
men-of-war, among them the Sea-Beggars, fell 
upon one of the enemy's divisions and cut it to 
pieces. Ten of the largest Spanish ships were de- 
stroyed, the rest turned and fled, and Middleburg 
surrendered. This left the Beggars masters of 
the sea. They burned Spanish war-ships, and 
captured Spanish merchantmen ; they plundered 



THE BEGGARS OF THE SEA 109 

merchandise, and carried off rich booty of plate 
and valuables. 

The last famous exploit of the Sea-Beggars was 
the thrilling and dramatic relief of Leyden. The 
defence of this city of Holland was one of the most 
pathetic and heroic of the war. For five months 
a besieging army of eight thousand Spanish sol- 
diers had blockaded Leyden on all sides. So 
closely was the town invested that no one could 
go in or come out through the close cordon of 
troops. The Spaniards were content to wait until 
famine and suffering should drive the people to 
surrender. 

Unfortunately the Leydenese had been careless 
and overconfident. They had already once been 
blockaded for a few weeks, earlier in the year, but 
had not expected the return of the Spaniards, and 
in the meanwhile no preparation had been made 
for defence. They had neither garrisoned the 
town nor laid in stores of grain or any kind of 
provisions. There was not food enough in the 
whole place to last three months. A girdle of 
forts or redoubts, built and held by the Spaniards, 
cut off every approach from the land side. And 
toward the sea, the land was riddled by a series 
of dikes and canals that held back the waters of 
the ocean. 

Leyden was the garden of Holland. The city 
lay in the midst of fruit orchards and flowers. 
Stretches of green pastures reached for miles 



110 SEA-V/OLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

around ; the million streams of the spreading 
Rhine were lined with trees. Redeemed from the 
sea and the sand by generations of dauntless Hol- 
landers, the land had bloomed and blossomed in 
generous return. 

But now the beleaguered city was a painful con- 
trast to all this glory. Her only defenders were 
a handful of pirates and the burgher guards. The 
provisions were in custody and doled out at short 
rations. Already the bread was exhausted, and 
only the watch received half a pound of meat per 
day. Men and women ate whatever they could 
find, — boiled leaves and roots, salted vine-leaves, 
and chopped skins, dogs, and cats, cooked or even 
raw. 

The famine was at its height, yet the hearts of 
the people were stout and unflinching, even while 
their bodies were racked with pain. Flattering 
offers and promises of pardon from the Spanish 
general were received with scorn and indignation. 
To his first letter their only answer was, " The 
fowler plays sweet notes on his pipe while he 
spreads his net for the bird." Further letters 
brought the spirited reply that " when they had 
eaten their dogs and cats, they still had a left arm 
to cut off while the right drove the tyrant from 
their walls ; and rather than become slaves they 
would set fire to their city." 

But the people were not entirely cut off from 
their friends. Carrier-pigeons flew to and fro 



THE BEGGAKS OF THE SEA 111 

with messages under their wings. The Prince 
of Orange was preparing a fleet of Zealanders to 
bring relief to the city. Approach from the land 
was impossible. Therefore the States in full 
council decreed that the dikes should be cut, 
the sluices opened, and the waters flow over the 
rich lands of Rhynland and Schieland. And on 
the rush of the waters, which would roll to the 
very walls of Leyden, the patriot ships would sail 
over the land to the gates of the city. "Better 
a ruined land than a lost land," was the undaunted 
cry. 

Buoyed by this promise, Leyden waited and 
watched. Hardly able to move, the weak and 
starving burghers dragged themselves daily to 
the top of a high tower, and strained feverish eyes 
toward the south. No man was allowed to leave 
the gates. Women and children died by the hun- 
dreds. The plague broke out and carried off its 
thousands. And still the people watched. For 
not alone the fate of Leyden, but the fate of Hol- 
land and the future of the nation, hung upon the 
unflinching courage of those brave Leydenese. 

Everything that men could do had been done. 
The dikes along the Meuse and the Yssel had 
been broken, the gates of the rivers had been un- 
locked, the sluices at Rotterdam, Schiedam, and 
Delftshaven opened. The hope of the Nether- 
lands rested on so small a thing as the wind. 
Rarely has a whole nation watched the weather- 



112 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

vane in such unbearable suspense. "Northeast, 
still northeast," was the despairing cry. A 
steady, strong wind held the waters of the rivers 
in their beds, pushed them back with a hand of 
iron. 

There was no food left in Ley den. Men tot- 
tered in the streets, and were taunted by their 
enemies, " Go up to the tower, ye Beggars, and 
see if the ocean is coming over the dry land to 
your relief ! " And the ocean came. Suddenly 
the wind swept around, from northeast to west 
and to southwest. Released, the waters rushed 
over fertile fields and growing crops, over gardens 
and villages. The fleet was ready. Two hundred 
flat-bottomed boats laden with provisions and 
ammunition, and the squadron of the terrible Sea- 
Beggars, the fiercest of the clan, had been massed 
at Rotterdam and Delft. Now they sailed in on 
the rising waters. 

Fort after fort was stormed, barrier after barrier 
broken, dikes carried, villages burned, and still 
the fleet advanced, through the gaps, riding on 
the ocean. The wind changed and shifted, rose 
and fell ; calms and shallow waters held them 
back, but nothing could dishearten the wild Sea- 
Beggars. By one way or another Admiral Boisot 
was determined to force a passage. A large 
inland mere delayed them several days, then the 
heavy barrier called the " Kirk-way " forced them 
back. The water fell, the fleet lay motionless ; 



THE BEGGARS OF THE SEA 113 

even the admiral despaired. Suddenly a violent 
tempest broke loose, the sea poured in, and again 
the ships swept onward with the rushing waves. 

All was not yet overcome. There was a fierce 
battle in the dead of night, there were shallows 
where the dauntless Beggars, maimed and hacked 
as. they were, leaped overboard and pushed the 
ships by main strength into deep water. There 
were two powerful forts, defended by artillery and 
troops. The guns alone could have destroyed the 
small vessels of the flotilla. But the Water-Beg- 
gars were on them — the wild Zealanders who 
went to mortal combat — and the Spaniards fled 
in all directions, fled into the flood, where hundreds 
met their death. But they could not escape the 
Beggars. Dashing after them along dikes and 
into waves, the pirates fell upon the fugitives with 
harpoon, boat-hook, and dagger. 

One fortress remained between the fleet and 
Leyden, strong and formidable, filled with soldiers 
and frowning guns. Boisot anchored out of gun- 
shot and waited for the dawn. Little more than 
a mile distant lay the headquarters of the besieging 
army ; two hundred and fifty yards ahead stood 
starving, pest-ridden Leyden, heroic Leyden. 

The Zealand admiral was prepared for a fierce 
struggle. He had sent carrier-pigeons to the city 
with messages of hope and encouragement ; and 
he had suggested a sortie from the gates. At last 
the first rays of dawn spread a gray light over the 



114 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

flooded country, over broken dikes, drowned vil- 
lages, ruined fields, over the city, and fort, and 
flotilla. Everywhere was silence. Not a sound 
came from the fort. The admiral was distrustful ; 
the city feared treachery. The uncertainty was 
oppressive. 

Suddenly a boy was seen perched on the top- 
most tower of the fort. He was waving his 
cap frantically and triumphantly in the air. And 
a man waded to his neck out toward the fleet to 
carry the news. In the dead of night the boy, 
who was now the first to climb the ramparts of 
the fort, had seen strange things. He had seen 
a line of moving lights, and dark forms creeping 
stealthily away. Boylike, he leaped to the con- 
clusion that the Spaniards were fleeing. And then 
to prove the thing he offered to swim alone to the 
redoubt. This was an adventure, a real, flesh-and- 
blood adventure, to thrill the soul of any boy. 
With quick strokes he flew through the water, 
scrambled up the wall, climbed to the top of the 
battlements. The fort was empty. The soldiers, 
panic-stricken at sight of the Sea-Beggars, had 
joined the main part of the troops, and the whole 
Spanish army was in full retreat. 

On the morning of the 8d of October, 1574, 
the fleet sailed into Leyden. The scenes that fol- 
lowed were full of pathos. Lines of emaciated 
and tottering creatures pressed around their 
rugged, swarthy deliverers, with the tears stream- 



THE BEGGARS OF THE SEA 115 

ing clown their cheeks. The emotion was intense, 
and when the entire population marched in pro- 
cession to the church headed by the admiral, and 
joined together in singing the thanksgiving hymn, 
it was more than the patient and heroic sufferers 
could bear. Those who had stood unflinchingly 
at the very gates of death, now broke down in 
the face of their deliverance. 

Leyden was relieved ! The Beggars of the Sea 
had saved Holland and were the heroes of the day. 
The memory of the wild pirate patriots dwelt long 
in men's minds. They continued to carry on their 
successful raids and were not dispersed until the 
end of the war, and such was the terror they 
inspired, that fifteen years later Spanish crews 
deserted and fled before the last remnant of 
the Holland and Zealand freebooters. 



CHAPTER X 
FASHIONABLE PIRACY 

r 

' Piracy was a fashionable pursuit among the 

dashing young blades of the English court during 
the sixteenth century. The reigns of " Bloody " 
Mary and of Elizabeth gave a great boom to the 
profession, and the Channel became a floating gold 
field as attractive as ever California or South Africa 
was to the daring and reckless adventurer. Queen 
Elizabeth rather encouraged the unlawful spoils 
system, and helped the business by showing a 
strong secret sympathy with the gay freebooters. 
With a decided liking for excitement and for 
games of hazard, and a natural love of intrigue, 
she took delight in the escapades of her unruly 
subjects. And although careful not to avow her 
interest in public, she was a patroness and stanch 
admirer of the sea-adventurers. Under a nom de 
guerre^ so to speak, or at least on the sly, she was 
fond of taking shares in different pirate stock com- 
panies, and enjoyed with keen zest the excitement 
of speculating now and then in Spanish gold or 
French wine. \ 

116 



FASHIONABLE PIRACY 117 

JVIany men who afterward held high and trusted 
positions under the government had been noted 
freebooters for a season and from motives of their 
own. It was quite the vogue to buy a vessel, col- 
lect a crew of corsairs, and haunt the water-high- 
ways. And because a Sir This or Lord That had 
once f)lundered rich merchant ships it was not held 
up against him. If he was clever, and ready to 
play the part of courtier or statesman as ably as 
he had played the part of pirate, he was sure of a 
warm welcome at court, and when he was tired of 
sailing the waves, and felt like settling down to a 
respectable career, he knew that many doors were 
open to him. 

The result was that the Channel teemed with 
rovers and their nests riddled the shores of Eng- 
land, Ireland, and the Islands. Catholics and 
Protestants who fled from persecution, sons of 
noblemen whose fortunes were at a low ebb, even 
young merchants with ambitions to rise, took up 
the profitable profession of piracy. As a rule, 
there was a faint attempt made to cover unlaw- 
ful buccaneering with a thin veil of legality in 
the form of letters of marque, but the veil was so 
thin that one could see through it, and it failed 
to disguise the true marauder.' When once the sea- 
wolves were let loose on the Channel, their raven- 
ous appetite for plunder made them color blind, 
and neither the French, Belgian, Spanish, Dutch, 
or even British flag was any protection to mer- 



118 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

chant vessels. They preyed upon the traders of 
their own country with as free a conscience as 
they hunted Spanish galleons. 

|The rovers soon grew to be a strong water-re- 
public, with headquarters and bases of operation 
scattered along the southern coast of England, 
hidden among the creeks and inlets of the Irish 
shores, and dotted among the impregnable reefs 
of the Scilly Isles. For not only had queens 
befriended the water-thieves, but even during the 
previous reign of Edward VI they had been pat- 
ronized and formed into a powerful band by the 
high-admiral of the kingdom, Lord Seymour of 
Sudleye^ 

This ambitious and intriguing noble had reasons 
of his own for favoring pirates, and his office as 
chief of the Admiralty gave him many opportuni- 
ties to do them a service. When now and then a 
pirate crew was captured and brought in for jus- 
tice, they always managed to get their freedom 
instead of a hanging. A few sparkling diamonds 
and rubies presented to the admiral and his follow- 
ers easily bought the release of noted buccaneers. 
But even a rich bribe was hardly necessary to win 
Seymour's favor, for he went out of his way to 
help the business. He purchased their favorite 
lair, the group of the Scilly Isles, off Land's End 
and the Lizard, and thus became the proprietor of 
a vast robber den. 

There, among the rocky labyrinths, he estab- 



FASHIONABLE PIKACY 119 

lislied a strong pirate community. It was a con- 
venient and inaccessible refuge. The rovers, with 
their small, light fleets of twenty or thirty sail, 
could sweep down upon the slow and heavily 
laden merchantmen, pillage the cargoes, and 
dance back among their reefs and coves. Lord 
Seymour was counting on this safe and sure refuge 
in case his intricate conspiracies should one day 
bring him into trouble. If he could not be hus- 
band to England's queen, he might at least be 
king of the corsairs and hold his court among the 
treacherous shoals of his island dominion. 

Encouraged by patronage in high places, the 
pirates flourished, and not only scoured the Chan- 
nel from end to end, but spread over to the French 
coast, raced up to the North Sea, and ran out into 
the Atlantic Ocean. As they grew in numbers 
they grew in insolence. They hung around the 
harbors in open day and carried on their business 
with frank presumption. So great was the fear 
they inspired that they were left unmolested. 
They lounged about the streets in broad daylight, 
bought their provisions in the market-place, and 
fitted out their ships. 

There were two notorious pirates, Thompson 
and Stevenson, who dropped anchor in the harbor 
of Cork; and although proclamations were out for 
their arrest, no one dared to interfere with them. 
The country people supplied them freely with 
provisions, and they carried on their trade with- 



120 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

out opposition. Even the mayor seemed to be 
paralyzed with alarm, and had not the courage 
to oppose them, for fear they would set fire to the 
town. So they had everything their own way, 
and carried matters with a high hand. 

But sometimes the pirates had the worst of the 
bargain, and met with an appropriate end on the 
yard-arm. The poor little seaport town of Kin- 
sale, on the south coast of Ireland, was having 
a hard time in the summer of 1548. The town 
lay not far from Cork, at the head of a narrow 
inlet, and depended for its prosperity on the trade 
of English and French vessels that came and went 
in its harbor. But it so happened that a gang 
of English pirates was holding high revels in its 
quiet waters. The condition of the town was 
bad enough without the unnecessary addition of 
unbidden robber guests, for pestilence had carried 
off hundreds of its men, and " we have a wide and 
empty town," wrote the counsel in a pathetic let- 
ter. The country was laid waste, and the neigh- 
boring people were " naughty " and unruly. 

It was not for what they could find in an empty 
town that Richard Colle and his crew of twenty 
men haunted the entrance to the harbor in what 
the venerable counsel called a "spinache," and 
which was probably a pinnace. But it was for 
the plunder they could steal from visitifig vessels. 
Ship after ship that was bringing provisions or 
merchandise to Kinsale was captured and pillaged, 



FASHIONABLE PIRACY 121 

and the poor people were not only prisoners in 
their own town, but were starved at that. No 
" victuals " and no succor could reach them, and 
they were powerless to drive the intruders from 
their coast. 

Meanwhile succor was arriving from an un- 
looked-for source. Ten days after the counsel's 
urgent appeal to the Lord Deputy, a large French 
vessel with a crew of a hundred men came to Kin- 
sale. As she sailed into the harbor, CoUe fell upon 
her, as he had upon many unsuspecting boats. But 
this time his adversary was too strong for him. 
After a short and lively struggle the pirate 
" spinache " was captured, and the " naughty " 
crew met their fate on the. Frenchman's yard-arm. 

It was not often, however, that the pirates met 
with the end they deserved, and their mysterious 
black luggers stole in and out among the dim 
shadows of reefs and creeks, darting stealthily 
upon their victims, and shooting back with rich 
loads to their nests. Four hundred adventurers 
roamed the Straits at the head of wild and desper- 
ate crews. Some of the highest families in Eng- 
land gave their names to pirate chiefs. Among 
these names we find a Carew, a Tremayne, a Hor- 
sey, a Killigrew, a Cobham — men who afterward 
held high positions of trust under Queen Eliza- 
beth. 

The rough crews cared for nothing but plunder. 
Many of them were fishermen whose business had 



122 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

been ruined. Others were coasting traders whose 
calling was no longer profitable or possible. All 
these took to piracy as an employment that satis- 
fied their lawless spirit. 

But with the leaders there was something be- 
hind it all, something more than the highwayman's 
desire to rob. The age was one of restlessness, of 
adventure, of romance. New things were happen- 
ing in religion, in commerce, in discoveries. The 
world was unsettled, and the spirit of disquiet 
spread among all classes. Occupations were taken 
away, lands confiscated, property seized, and the 
British knights and squires, with their national 
love of the sea and of enterprise, exchanged their 
castles for their ships when they were driven from 
home. 

On the water they were free to fight for their 
religion and their country, even when their rulers 
were not at war. They could revenge Spanish 
insults and Catholic crimes. If Englishmen were 
tortured by the Inquisition and starved in foul 
dungeons, they could in return sew up Spanish 
crews in their own sail and throw them into the 
ocean. As the spirit of lawless reprisals became 
a habit, other lawless habits were soon taken up, 
and it was easy to turn from the pursuit of a Span- 
ish gold ship to the chase of a Flemish trader. 

The burghers, too, were not to be outdone by 
the lords. To an equal love of adventure they 
added an even stronger love of gold and a good 



FASHIOXABLE PIRACY 123 

eye for business. The mereliants of PljTaouth, 
Exeter, and the Isle of Wight soon learned to 
combine commerce and buccaneering. They sent 
out large ships with strong crews, armed with 
frowning guns and well stocked with arms and 
ammunition — ships that might well have passed 
for men-of-war. 

Armed merchantmen had become a necessity, 
for commerce was unprotected save by her own 
guns, and the English navy was still unborn. 
Trade had developed with a rush, bur as yet there 
was no regular fighting marine. In times of 
peace the few government vessels were mostly 
put out of commission, and the large vessels of 
the traders that had been transformed into men- 
of-war were sold. Merchants were forced to de- 
pend upon their own resources for the protection 
of their cargoes from attack, and they soon began 
to arm their ships for defence. From defence to 
offence is but a step, and they were now fast learn- 
inof to increase the number and the weisfht of their 
guns, and to add to their fleets two or three swift 
cruisers whose mission was not to trade but to 
take. 

Now that the fisheries were dead, and the navy 
unformed, there were only two roads open to 
mariners. — commerce and piracy. A combination 
of the two was profitable and more or less safe, 
and pirate-trading grew to be a favorite business. 
We have onlv to look at the list of the corsair 



124 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

chiefs of commerce, which includes such names as 
the Hawkinses, the Drakes, the Frobishers, to see 
how widespread was the piratical spirit. And 
just as the powerful navy of Holland grew out 
of the fierce Beggars of the Sea, the keel timber 
of the English navy was laid by the dashing pirate 
lords and pirate traders who swept the Channel 
and were masters of the narrow sea. 



CHAPTER XI 

AN ALL-EOUND ADVENTURER 

" If I should tell his story — pride was all his glory, 
And lusty Stukely he was called in court." 

1J[f the wild and stormy Stukely, the vain and 
ambitious Stukely, could have known that he was 
to figure as the hero of several ballads and of two 
long plays, one of which is supposed to show the 
hand of Shakespeare, his pride would have been 
more than satisfied. The exploits of pirates have 
been sung and praised, but never have they been 
so glorified as have the dashing, reckless deeds 
of the English captain. He was the idol of the 
popular fancy, the subject of fantastic tales and 
traditions, a sort of half-mythical, half-real des- 
perado whose feats were made to follow the flights 
of the bard. 

Stukely was no common pirate ; he was the 
hero of the military spirit, the daredevil genius 
of war. He was a courtier, traveller, plotter, 
adventurer, and gentleman of fortune. He was 
admired by princes and petted by kings. He 
served England, France, Spain, Portugal, and 
Italy. He had dreams of founding an empire and 

125 



126 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

ruling a state7j^ There were, in fact, very feAV 
limits to his vainglorious ambition and to his 
dishonest plots. 

*' By birth a wealthy clothier's son — deeds of wonder hath 
he done, 
To purchase him a long and lasting praise." 

But here the poet drew upon his fancy, for 
Stukely was no clothier's child, but the third son 
of a brave and distinguished knight. Sir Hugh 
Stukely, who came of a wealthy and powerful 
ancient family of Devonshire. Not only was the 
family a prominent one, but it was connected by 
blood and by marriage with many strong and 
influential names. The whole spirit of the house 
was military and loyal. Uncles and brothers 
and cousins were either sailors or soldiers, and 
held service under the crown. 

Thomas Stukely was born at a stormy period, 
in 1520, under the reign of King Henry VIII, 
and he was to see the sway of two kings and two 
queens, alternating from fierce Protestants to 
bloody Catholics. Those were times of sudden 
changes and fiery spirits. Men caught hold of 
life as best they could, and often in not very 
honest ways. Stukely went to London to seek his 
fortune, and there entered the family of the Duke 
of Suffolk as a retainer. He followed his master 
in different enterprises, and was present with him 
at the siege and fall of Boulogne in 1544. 



AN ALL-ROUND ADVENTURER 127 

In the following year the Duke of Suffolk died, 
and Stukely entered the service of the Earl of 
Hertford. He had powerful friends in the army, 
and through their influence was appointed to the 
office of king's standard-bearer at Boulogne, for 
which honor he received a stipend of six shillings 
and eight pence a day. 

When Stukely was about thirty years old, in 
1550, he lost his position as standard-bearer by 
the surrender of Boulogne to the French, and then 
returned to the English court in search of new 
fields for his ability. His natural fondness for 
conspiracies and intrigue attracted him to the 
Protector, the Duke of Somerset, and he at- 
tached himself to this unscrupulous lord. During 
the next tw^o years young Stukely, already a dash- 
ing and swaggering gallant, was used by his mas- 
ter in missions to France and plots in England 
which were decidedly compromising. And when 
Somerset was thrown into the Tower in 1551, 
Stukely fled to France. 

There he soon succeeded in winning the favor 
of the Constable de Montmorency, who admired 
the brilliant talents of the young English soldier, 
and introduced him to the French king. For the 
next year Stukely devoted his aspiring energies 
to the service of Henry II, and to his own in- 
terests, with such success that he soon won the 
trust and friendship of his royal patron. 

But his restless nature was already astir, and at 



128 SEA-AVOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

the end of a year he was longing for a sight of 
English shores. The risk of returning to his own 
country was enough to be exciting, but not enough 
to be dangerous, and had in it the very diet he 
craved. With an eye to caution, however, he pro- 
vided himself with a letter from King Henry II of 
France to his beloved " cousin, gossip, and ally," 
King Edward VI of England. It was a warm and 
urgent letter in which Henry most affectionately 
and heartily recommended for favor his " dear 
and good friend" Thomas Stukely, " who has ever 
behaved himself well and valiantly." 

With this powerful letter of recommendation 
and character voucher, Stukely was received at 
court, although still with some suspicion. Ever 
a bold player, he now threw down his trump card, 
whether moved by self-interest or by loyalty as an 
English subject will perhaps never be known. At 
all events, he divulged an intricate plot of the 
French king to seize Calais, land two armies at 
Dartmouth and Falmouth, and invade England 
from north and south. If this information were 
true, it was worth a fortune to Stukely, and the 
favor and gratitude of the English king. 

But if Stukely had expected a rich reward, he 
had counted without the talents of an intriguer 
more artful than himself ; and, instead of seeing all 
his debts paid, as he had hoped, he suddenly found 
himself chained in the Tower. This was a most 
unexpected and unfortunate turn of fortune's 



AX ALL-ROUND ADVENTURER 129 

wheel. The Duke of Northumberland had hit 
upon the clever scheme of frankly telling the 
French king of the strange tales told against 
him, and asking him if they were true. Henry 
II, as was to be expected, hotly denied the story, 
called Stukely a liar and a slanderer, and protested 
his own good faith. Poor Stukely, himself a 
plotter, was thus made the tool and victim of two 
more consummate plotters than himself. But he 
was learning lessons in dishonesty and intrigue 
from which he profited later. 

It was not for long that Stukely clanked his 
chains in the Tower. A few months, or at most a 
year, found him again in the open, with fortunes 
no better than when he had begun his career, 
but with a load of debts in addition. He had 
gained more experience than money, and money 
was what he most wanted, for he was an extrava- 
gant fellow, fond of pleasure and gayety. After 
a number of experiments, including a stay at the 
court of Emperor Charles V and a two years' ser- 
vice under the Duke of Savoy, he finally decided 
to try his hand at buccaneering. 

Piracy was at its height. It was profitable and 
popular. The people looked upon it with secret 
favor ; it appealed to the spirit of adventure and 
freedom that had been let loose. The only won- 
der is that such a lawless free-lance as Stukely 
had not already started out as a pirate chieftain. 

With a jaunty barque and a rough and motley 



130 SEA-WOLVES OF SEYEJST SHORES 

crew, the former gallant scoured the Channel and 
the Straits. Stukely's piracies soon became a 
byword for their daring and insolence. French 
traders and Flemish merchants were waylaid and 
plundered, the crews sent to the bottom, and the 
goods hurried into the deep bays of the south 
coast of Ireland ; for Stukely's hiding-places 
were near Cork and Kinsale, the favorite lairs 
of many English pirates. It was natural, too, for 
him to take refuge in the land of St. Patrick, as he 
was not only of the Catholic faith, but had strong 
connections in Ireland through his mother's family. 
Not content with enriching himself by plunder, 
he bought for a nominal sum the interest in some 
vast estates near Cork. The land had for a long 
time been quarrelled over, and bestowed in turn 
on different families. It was not a fruitful pos- 
session, but Stukely had the greed for land, and 
coveted wide domains and broad dependencies. 
His new acquisition was probably more of a 
drain on his resources than a gain, for he soon 
ran out of funds, and his next business experiment 
was in the matrimonial line. He went up to Lon- 
don, and there won the favor of a rich alderman's 
daughter. 

" When she his person spied — he could not be denied, 
So brave a gentleman he was to see." 

The lady — whether she was fair or not the 
ballad does not tell us — who was captivated hj 



AlSr ALL-EOUJS^D ADVENTURER 131 

the dashing charms of her lover, little realized 
that it was her father's bright gold he coveted. 
Her disillusionment came not long after their 
marriage, when 

" Stukely he presxim'd 
To spend a hundred pound a day in waste. 
The greatest gallants in the land — had Stukely's purse at 
their command. 
Thus merrily the time away he passed." 

Things went from bad to worse, and, after the 
alderman's premature death, the reckless son-in- 
law squandered the fortune of a life's making. 
Everything went in pleasure and feasting, — gold, 
jewels, lands, and even his wife's clothes. 

" Thus wasting lands and living — by this lawless giving 
At length he sold the pavement of the yard, 
Which covered was with blocks of tin. . . ." 

When there was nothing left to spend, Stukely 
said, " I'll go my way," and with his usual cheer- 
fulness turned to see what new prize the world 
could give him. It must have taken him several 
years to run through his father-in-law's wealth, 
for he had been living in London four twelve- 
months after his marriage, and had filled several 
public offices, and taken part in more than one 
intrigue. Not until 1562 was he driven by the 
weakness of his purse to seek other ventures. 

Stukely's new project was more ambitious and 
was more deeply plotted than any of his former 
escapades. He proposed to Queen Elizabeth that 



132 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

he should equip an expedition to colonize Florida. 
She favored the idea and helped him to fit out a 
squadron, contributing provisions, arms, and am- 
munition. Five ships and a pinnace were well 
armed, and manned with a mixed crew of rough 
mariners and stalwart soldiers. Provided with a 
license from the crown that authorized him to 
make discoveries and to found a settlement in 
Florida, Stukely set sail from Havre, which was 
then an English possession, and stretched west- 
ward through the Channel. 

It is amusing to read of the plots and counter- 
plots in connection with this fanciful expedition 
to Florida. Queen Elizabeth was playing with a 
new and dangerous toy, which was to bewitch her 
and involve her in much trouble while it brought 
her large profits. She was for the first time tast- 
ing the unlawful joys of buccaneering, and her 
greed, her love of intrigue, her spirit of adventure, 
were all allured by the popular trade. Under the 
thin disguise of an expedition to Florida she was 
taking shares in a piratical venture. 

Meanwhile Stukely was cherishing his own 
secret schemes. He coveted a realm, but a realm 
nearer home. An official letter authorized him 
to stop at certain ports on the coast of Ireland in 
case he was diverted from his direct voyage by 
unfavorable winds. Elizabeth looked upon this 
as a loophole for him to hang around the Channel 
and plunder Spanish galleons or French traders. 



AN ALL-KOUND ADVENTURER 133 

Stukely looked upon it as an excuse for getting 
a foothold in Ireland and exciting the people to 
insurrection. 

But the farce was kept up, and Stukely promised 
to write to the queen after he was settled in his 
Florida kingdom, " as one prince writes unto an- 
other," calling her his "loving sister." He was 
to live and die a braggart. 

So although the ditty runs, — 

" Have over the waters to Florida 
Farewell good London now," 

he deliberately turned his prows toward Ireland. 
Settling himself comfortably in the harbors of 
Cork and Kinsale, he slipped out in his four-hun- 
dred-ton barque to capture gold ships and wine 
fleets from Panama and Bordeaux. He was un- 
questionably a success at piracy, the only profes- 
sion of which he was a real master. He had the 
very character suited to a bold robber chieftain, — 
the dash, the swagger, the reckless lying, the self- 
ishness, the cold-hearted rascality, the plausible 
ways, and a certain lustiness and power that de- 
ceive and captivate. He was the adventurer 
through and through. 

French, Spanish, Flemish, Scotch, Dutch mer- 
chant vessels fell into his hands. A Zealand ship, 
the Trinity^ on its way to Biscay, was caught and 
robbed of linen and tapestry to the worth of three 
thousand pounds. The Fortune^ bound from Nantes 



134 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

to Antwerp, fell in with Stukely off Ushant, and 
was carried off, robbed, and sent to the bottom. 

If he had only kept to piracy, he would have 
been one of the cleverest of sea-wolves. But his 
restless brain was forever brewing bigger schemes. 
He aspired to something greater than a corsair 
kingdom. If not an Irish realm, at least an Irish 
dukedom. To excite Ireland against her heretic 
queen, to make her a dependency of Spain, and 
himself Philip's viceroy, — this was Stukely's 
dream. But his machinations were discovered ; 
he was arrested and thrown into Dublin Castle, 
and there kept a close prisoner for seventeen weeks. 

It seems to have been as easy in Queen Eliza- 
beth's time to get out of prison as to be thrown 
in ; at least for some, especially adventurers and 
pirates. By October, 1569, Stukely was set free 
on parole, and some months later received his par- 
don. But Ireland was no longer a safe place for 
him, and he laid his plans for escape. He bought 
a ship and prepared it for sea; laid in stores of 
wheat, beans, and water ; and shipped a stout 
crew of the best English mariners. On a fair 
day in April, 1570, he spread his sail to the breeze 
and put out to sea. And then, instead of heading 
for the coast of England, as expected, he sped 
southward to Spain. 

At this point Stukely bids farewell to piracy. 
The next eight years were spent in Spain and 
Italy, where the would-be Duke of Ireland amused 



AX ALL-ROUXD ADYEXTURER 135 

himself by plotting and lying. He represented 
himself as a man of large influence and strong 
position, who could with ease lead a success- 
ful insurrection in Ireland. King Philip, who at 
first showered honors upon the Irish adventurer, 
finally turned cold and refused his support. At 
Rome, however, Stukely had better success, and 
after his visit to the Pope was able to add after 
his name a string of more or less empty titles, 
which at least satisfied his vanity. Knight, Baron, 
Viscount, Earl, Marquis, and General were cer- 
tainly enough to fulfil the aspirations of a title 
hunter. 

But Stukely was, at least, in earnest in his de- 
sire to lead an invasion of Ireland, and in 1578 he 
had so far succeeded that he set sail from Genoa 
in the San Juan with a troop of eight hundred 
well-armed and well-trained Italian soldiers. But 
the trouble with him was that he never carried a 
thing through to the finish. Putting in to Lisbon 
harbor for repairs, he heard of a battle to be fought 
in Africa between the king of Portugal and the 
emperor of Morocco. King Sebastian happened 
to be in need of recruits, and with promises of 
future help and a salary of a thousand ducats a 
month, he easily persuaded Stukely to join in the 
African enterprise. 

At Alcazar, on the 4th of August, 1578, was 
fought the tragical battle at which fell ''three 
kings in re and one in spe." Stukely, with his 



136 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

Italians, was in the centre of the Portuguese line 
and bore the brunt of the fighting. The Portu- 
guese army was entirely destroyed, the emperor 
of Morocco fell, King Sebastian was killed, and 
Stukely died valiantly, leading a desperate charge. 

" Stukely's life thus ended — was after death befriended, 
And like a soldier buried gallantly. 
Where now there stands upon the grave — a stately tem- 
ple builded brave 
With golden turrets piercing to the sky." 



CHAPTER XII 
ROVERS OF THE CHANNEL 

Although we have grown accustomed to hear 
the praise of pirates sung, it is with not a little 
mild surprise that we read the summing up of Sir 
Peter Carew's life, written more than three hun- 
dred years ago by an acquaintance, if not a friend 
of the honorable gentleman. Sir Peter, who died 
a justice of the peace and custos rotulorum^ was 
spoken of, in a little extempore funeral speech, as 
a most worthy and noble knight, whose faith was 
never stained, whose truth was never spotted, and 
whose valor was never daunted. In addition to 
this he is said to have been just in his dealings 
with all men, liberal to the point of believing that 
" it is better to give than to take," brilliant and 
clever in mind, valiant and able in war, an admirer 
of Cicero, and the equal of Publius Scipio and 
Paulus ^milius. 

In act he was never dishonest, and he did not 
*' inordinately " seek other men's goods ! Add to 
this that he was a man well put together, strong 
and agile, broad, big-boned, and firm-sinewed, 
with black hair and a thick, bushy beard, and we 
can picture to ourselves a very striking sort of 

137 



138 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

person, whose appearance rather belied his angelic 
character, and who must have looked like a very 
fierce sort of saint. It is, at all events, a satisfac- 
tion to feel that there was at least one virtuous, 
respectable, and not " inordinate " pirate, a really- 
high-minded and noble gentleman, among so many 
who were the reverse. 

These English rovers differed from others of the 
confraternity in that they were amateur and not 
professional robbers. With them piracy was a 
sort of diversion, not a vocation ; they took it up 
as we would wheeling, for two or three seasons, 
and then dropped it when the -novelty had worn 
off. Amateurs never take their accomplishments 
or their occupations in earnest ; however adept or 
clever they may become, the chances are that 
painting, or piracy, or philanthropy will be laid 
aside for some newer fad. Now, Sir Peter's busi- 
ness in life was to be justice of the peace and 
custos rotulorum; his interest in yachting and in 
acquiring to a moderate degree the property of 
others was merely a phase. 

Whatever Sir Peter may have become in later 
years, he was not exactly well behaved or discreet 
as a boy. But he was bright and precocious, and 
his father thought with parental fondness that 
he was destined to be a great and good man. 
William, Baron of Carew, belonged to a noble 
family of ancient lineage who owned wide lands 
and brave castles in Wales and Devon. Of 



ROVERS OF THE CHANNEL 139 

several sons, Peter was the youngest and also the 
most promising, so his father decided to have him 
thoroughly educated, setting great hopes on his 
future advancement. 

When Peter was twelve he was sent to the 
grammar school at Exeter and put under the 
care of Thomas Hunt, a draper and alderman. 
Although later the list of Sir Peter's attainments 
included French and Italian, geometry and mathe- 
matics, politics, law, and the science of war, his 
love of knowledge had not yet developed at the 
age of twelve, and he proved himself to be a 
refractory pupil, who gave much concern and 
trouble to his protector, the respectable draper. 
He disliked work, and had a strong aversion to 
the head of the school, a man called Freer, who 
was a hard and cruel master. 

Not that the usual routine of study was difficult 
or heavy in those days, to judge by the report of 
a tutor who was instructing his pupil in good 
letters and honest manners. The list of the dav's 
work included a dialogue of Erasmus on the 
devotion of children, two hours of writing exer- 
cises, and a reading lesson in Fabyan's Chronicle. 
Instruction on the lute and virginals, or " playing 
at weapons," and a ride enlivened by tales from 
Greek and Roman history, filled in the rest of the 
day. French and bookkeeping were sometimes 
added ; and during the recreation hours the boys 
learned to hawk, hunt, and shoot. 



140 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

It is not likely, however, that the boys of the 
Exeter high school were allowed such a pleasant 
variety of study, or many hours of riding, hawk- 
ing, and hunting. Peter, at all events, found the 
days dreary, and turned truant as often as he 
dared. More and more frequently was his bench 
empty, while he was ranging freely over town and 
country. Freer complained forcibly to the draper, 
and the unhappy Hunt would scour the streets in 
search of the runaway. One day Peter was dis- 
covered on top of the city walls, and as Mr. Hunt 
approached he scrambled to the very summit of 
one of the high turrets ; perched on the battle- 
ments, he threatened to throw himself headlong 
from the tower if his pursuer tried to catch him, 
"and then," said he, " I shall break my neck, and 
thou shalt be hanged, because thou makest me to 
leap down." 

Mr. Hunt seems to have been impressed by the 
logic of this argument, and gave up the chase for 
that day. But he wisely concluded that the boy 
needed the training of a firm hand, and sent for 
his father. Sir William arrived post-haste at 
Exeter and did not hesitate to use strong and 
primitive methods in dealing with his unruly son. 
Peter was tied to a leash, and was led by a servant 
through the streets of Exeter as if he were one 
of his father's dogs. He was then driven home in 
the same ignominious way to Sir William's castle 
in Devon. There he was coupled to a foxhound, 



ROVERS OF THE CHANNEL 141 

and left for many days to the whims of his four- 
footed messmate and playmate. 

But no punishment, however humiliating, could 
instil into the wild and independent Peter the 
desire to study ; and when he was afterward taken 
by his father on probation to London and again 
put to school, he had not mended his ways. He 
loved liberty better than learning, and neglected 
his books. The schoolmaster urged Sir William 
to choose another profession for his lively and 
wilful son, who could never be moulded into a 
scholar, and the days of Peter's schooling came to 
an end. 

After this, his boyhood w^as full of vicissitudes. 
He was made page to a French noble and carried 
off to France. But as his smart clothes grew 
threadbare, his new master's favor seemed to wear 
out with them. Ragged Peter, turned out of the 
chamber, was relegated to the stable, and fell to be 
lackey and then muleteer. As he was playing one 
day with his companions, the horse-boj^s, before 
the court gate, a dashing horseman rode up and 
dismounted. It was John Carew, a distant cousin 
of Sir William, and he proved to be the prince 
in the fairy tale. He gave the French nobleman 
a sound scolding, carried Peter off to court, where 
he was educated like a gentleman, and then took 
him to the Avars. 

After an absence of six years, Peter, now a 
handsome and gallant youth, clever, witty, and 



142 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

spirited, returned to England and to his family, 
presented himself at court, and rose rapidly in 
royal favor. 

This was the boyhood of the man who was 
afterward gentleman in waiting to the king, 
naval commander, lord high commissioner, and 
adventurer ; who fought against the French, broke 
his lance at tourneys, conspired, fled, roved the 
Channel, disciplined troops, and repressed piracy. 

It was after he had become deeply involved 
in the conspiracy against Queen Mary's Spanish 
marriage, and had been forced to fly to France, 
that he started his piratical cruises. Unscrupu- 
lous, strong, energetic, he gathered around him the 
hot-headed young English rebels who, like him- 
self, had sworn to keep the prince of Spain from 
English shores. To Caen in Normandy came the 
Strangways, Killegrews, and Tremaynes, with 
rough, sturdy crews of Plymouth and Weymouth 
mariners. The Huguenot French were eager to 
provide them with ships, arms, and ammunition ; 
almost two hundred vessels were collected in 
the ports of Normandy and Brittany under the 
command of Carew. 

With this fleet of fast-sailing boats, led by men 
of that mixed brew of patriot, pirate, and priva- 
teer, Carew held the Straits between France and 
England. All the disaffected joined his flag. 
They planned big schemes of landing in Essex 
and the Isle of Wight, and raising the standard of 




He gathered around him the hot-headed young EngHsh rebels 



ROVERS OF THE CHANNEL 143 

revolt. Meanwhile they plundered freely what- 
ever fell into their hands, and their swift sea- 
hawks fastened their grappling talons into all 
vessels that dared to run the gauntlet of the 
Channel. 

Scotch, Spaniards, and Portuguese, Flemish, 
Dutch, and Catholic French, lawful traders and 
peaceful coasters, fishing fleets, gold fleets, and 
wine fleets, fell victims to the light, nimble-footed, 
ambiguous vessels that sailed under English colors. 
Strength of arms and strength of guns were their 
title to the booty of the whole Catholic world ; 
they established their rights and made their 
demands at the mouths of their cannon. The 
Huguenot storehouses at La Roclielle groaned 
under the weight of Catholic cargoes. Not con- 
tent with intercepting merchantmen in harbors 
and channels, the pirates boldly dove into Spanish 
ports, or plunged out to sea in pursuit of fleeing 
traders. The water crusade throve, and the war 
between the old and the new religions, that was 
kept simmering for years by the governments of 
the rival countries, was carried to the boiling- 
point by the illegal rovers of the sea. 

j After seeing Carew the chief and leader of the 
rebel pirates, it seems odd to find him, ten years 
later, empowered by Queen Elizabeth to clear the 
Irish seas and English waters of freebooters and 
marauders. He was to fit out a small, swift 
squadron, run down the thieves in their haunts. 



144 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

seize and destroy their ships. It was pitting 
pirates against pirates, for the men were to receive 
no pay, but were to help themselves to as much 
plunder as they could find, as a recompense for 
their services. But Carew had too much sym- 
pathy for adventurers to throw much heart into 
the affair, and the wolves of Devonshire and Bere- 
haven suffered little at his hands. The expedition 
failed to exterminate the pirates of the narrrow 
sea. 

The business of piracy continued to thrive, and 
Queen Elizabeth, while publicly denouncing it, 
really grew to depend on the vigilance of her 
pirate subjects to protect her shores from Spanish 
invasion. The rovers became the defenders of 
the realm. 

Many were the young, brave, and unscrupulous 
men, ready to serve the queen for the love of 
England, or rove the Channel for the love of 
gold, adventure, and revenge. There were scores 
among the younger sons of the best families in 
England, who had grown up into irresponsible, 
irregular youths, and were indiscriminately de- 
fenders of_the faith, soldiers on land, and pirates 
on the sea^u. Ned Horsey was one of these lawless 
knights-errant, one year sacking towns and plun- 
dering ships, the owner of heavily armed piratical 
vessels that scoured not only the narrow seas, but 
ventured over the ocean and ravaged the Spanish 
main ; next year knighted as Sir Edward Horsey 



ROVERS OF THE CHANNEL 145 

and appointed governor of the Isle of Wight ; 
in 1569 leading a cavalry troop against Catholic 
rebels ; in 1577 sent on an embassy to the Nether- 
lands. 

The Isle of Wight itself, over which ruled the 
pirate patriot Sir Edward, was a recognized store- 
house for plundered goods. Captain Sorrey 
brought in his prizes and sold the stolen cargoes. 
Whether saffron, herrings, gold, or silks — all 
found a market among the merchants whose land 
bordered the coast. There was a broad impar- 
tiality in wares, — cochineal, silver, pearls, wine, 
wool, cheese, and meat ; everything fed the illicit 
trade, and the pirates were not fastidious choosers. 
They felt that the sea and all that was in it or on 
it belonged to Englishmen. 

Nor were they more scrupulous about nations 
or creeds than about goods. Protestant Dutch- 
men were robbed as well as Catholic Span- 
iards. 

Cornelius Williamson of Dort is sailing out of 
Yarmouth. He has bartered his Dutch wares for 
English goods, and has spread his sails for home. 
Scarcely is he outside of the harbor than an evil- 
looking, black lugger falls upon him. Wild and 
ruthless pirates swarm over the sides of the coaster; 
the Dutch sailors are tied with ropes and thrown 
into the sea ; Cornelius himself is dropped eight 
times into the water, tied to a rope and with 
stones around his legs. Money, clothes, anchors, 



146 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

cables, provisions, everything is looted and carried 
off to a neighboring inlet. 

At Sandwich quay, in Poole harbor, in Ports- 
mouth roads, in Thames waters, in the Solent, the 
Channel, the Straits, everywhere, the corsairs held 
the way, and robbed at pleasure. 

Faint, half-hearted attempts were made to sup- 
press them. But the queen sympathized with 
them, and the people helped them. They were 
looked upon as heroes and religious enthusiasts. 
Bitter complaints from Spain and France some- 
times resulted in the arrest of some notorious 
adventurer, but never was the terrible punishment 
of piracy carried out. The ruthless Cobham, son 
of Lord Cobham, who had chased, scuttled, and 
robbed an eighty-thousand-ducat ship and drowned 
the crew tied up in their own mainsail, was caught 
and tried for piracy. The penance was heavy. 
The prisoner, if sentenced, was laid on his back on 
the bare floor of a dark, damp dungeon ; an enor- 
mous weight of iron was placed on his chest ; 
three morsels of foul bread and three sips of 
stagnant water were to be his only nourishment 
until he died. But Cobham escaped the dreadful 
death, and was released, only to return to his 
depredations. 

With examples such as these of lords and nobles 
turned rovers and escaping punishment, the com- 
moner freebooters grew insolent and haunted the 
waterways. Poor fishermen were robbed of their 



ROVERS OF THE CHANNEL 147 



herrings, cordage, nets, and food. Coasters were ] 

boarded by masked men and cleared of artillery, ^ 

powder, and shot. Margate roads and even Green- ; 

wich waters under the very mouths of the queen's | 

guns were as dangerous as the Straits. The ■< 

English pirates were, in fact, masters of the sea, \ 

and were paving the way for that legal supremacy ^ 

which was afterward won by the still unborn \ 

fleets and admirals of England. j 



CHAPTER XIII 
A PACK OF WOLVES 

It is difficult to draw a sharp line between the 
English, Irish, and French pirates of the Channel. 
Together they were masters of the narrow waters, 
and levied blackmail on the commerce of the North 
and South, whose only road lay through the dan- 
gerous Straits. The French in the van, holding 
the entrance from the North Sea, the English in the 
centre, and the Irish bringing up the rear at the 
mouth of the Atlantic, — this was a formidable line 
of ambuscades that few could run in safety. 

The English were the leaders in this robber 
warfare, and spread over to the coast of France, 
gathering mixed crews of English, French, and 
even Flemish. Then, too, they had favorite 
haunts along the southern shores of Ireland, safer 
and more retired than their nests on the chief 
highway, and there they enlisted stout mariners 
whose heavy brogue must have given a humorous 
tinge to the pirate speech, and made it seem more 
funny than ferocious. 

Still, there were, both in Irish coves and French 
bays, a number of independent rover chiefs, who 

148 



A PACK OF WOLVES 149 

kept themselves thoroughly national and distinct 
from their cosmopolitan brethren. 
^The most famous of the true Irish sea-robbers 
was Granny O'Malley, a beldame of Connaught. 
She was the wife of a patriot chieftain, but was 
the stronger man of the two, and led her husband 
around with her wherever she chose to go, '' by 
sea and land, being more than Mrs. Mate with 
him," as Sir Philip Sidney quaintly expressed it. 
Her nests were at Bally croy, and hidden among the 
crevices of the Achil Isles, off the northwest coast 
of Ireland. 

Granny was a thoroughgoing pirate, and carried 
on her depredations without any excuses of com- 
missions or religion. Her three light galleys, 
manned by two hundred ruffian sailors, raided 
the coast, and were the terror of every skipper 
who dared to sail the western waters. In every 
desperate fight Granny came out victorious, and 
carried off rich plunder to her secret caves. The 
whole province was in dread of her ; complaints 
were sent in to government that this " chief com- 
mander and director of thieves " had spoiled the 
province ; but it was not until she had asserted her 
audacious mastery for several years that she was 
finally caught. 

Once she had brought her galleys round to 
Cork and submitted herself to Sidney, placing her 
pirate ships at his disposal ; but, uneasy of fet- 
ters, she had returned to her wild forays, and was 



150 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

finally taken into custody. Released from her 
firm leadership, her husband, Mac William, and 
her son deserted the rebels, and went over to the 
English side. Fierce Granny herself was impris- 
oned at Limerick, and held in such " sure keep- 
ing " that she died, j 

Among the sea-wolves whose lairs lay along the 
northern and western shores of France was the 
Catholic sailor, De Valle, who formed vast schemes 
for taking possession of Canada and establishing 
a French colony. The project seems to have met 
the same fate as Stukely's proposal to settle Flor- 
ida. An order from the French government pro- 
vided De Valle with ships, provisions, ammunition, 
arms, and stores of every kind. When his little 
squadron was well fitted out for sea, he collected 
a mixed and reckless crew among the sea-going 
population of the fishing towns ; and to supply 
him with Canadian settlers the prison doors were 
opened, and crowds of jailbirds were shipped for 
the supposed voyage. 

But no sooner had the anchors been slipped, and 
the ships were threading their way through the 
Channel, than De Valle changed his mind. His 
choice and motley assortment of daredevils were, 
he thought, better suited to boarding vessels and 
plundering cargoes than to settling down into 
peaceful tillers of the soil. So he nailed the 
black flag to his masthead and hovered around 
the English coast. Instead^of seizing Canada, he 



A PACK OF WOLVES 151 

seized Lundy Island, and made it his base of oper- 
ations. From there he fell upon coasting vessels 
and Bristol traders, or else he hung around the 
Isle of Wight and waylaid the merchant ships 
from Portsmouth as they sailed out of the 
Solent. 

Some of De Valle's satellites came to a bad end. 
The sturdy fishermen of Clovelly proved a match 
for the pirates who had been prowling around 
their coves. Several boat-loads of the Clovelly 
men went out by night, surrounded one of the 
black luggers, burned it to the water's edge, and 
despatched the crew. De Valle himself was not 
of the number, for, like all pirate chiefs, he made 
a point of not being taken ; but he disappeared 
before long from his haunts, driven out by his 
rivals, the Protestant rovers. 

The Huguenot adventurers had a freer fling, 
for they were secretly encouraged by their Eng- 
lish brothers. At all the ports of England they 
were supplied with food and stores of every kind, 
and they brought their stolen goods openly into 
Plymouth or Dover harbor, where they found a 
ready market for Catholic silks and jewels. 

Pie de Palo, or Jacques le Clerc, one of these 
irregular free-lances, sailed out of Havre under 
the mask of a commission from Conde, the Hugue- 
not prince. Stretching across to the Lizard, he 
met a large Portuguese vessel, ran her down, and 
plundered her cargo, worth forty thousand ducats. 



152 SEA- WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

This account settled, he chased a ship bound from 
the Bay of Biscay to the North Sea, captured her, 
and found a rich booty of wool and iron. 

Elated with success, and fresh from his last 
raid. Pie de Palo caught sight of a Spanish mer- 
chantman entering the waters between Ushant and 
the Scilly Isles. Lying in wait for her, he sud- 
denly swept down and drove her into Falmouth 
harbor, riddling her with shot. The Spaniard 
ran aground, and was promptly taken possession 
of by the energetic and vivacious Le Clerc. 

The lively Frenchman did not let the seaweeds 
cling to his keel. Well pleased with his good for- 
tune and eager for more, he hung close to the 
shore and watched for prey. It was winter, the 
wind was raging, the sea rough. Le Clerc felt 
sure that some passing traders would run for 
shelter into Falmouth harbor. And he was right. 
Five Portuguese vessels had labored up to Land's 
End, and there met with such violent blasts that 
they skirted the point and turned for safety into 
the quiet English harbor. 

Soon they discovered their mistake; they had 
fallen into a hornets' nest instead of a refuge. 
Under press of sail they turned and fled, but Pie 
de Palo plunged after them in hot pursuit. A 
lively race up Channel, the Spaniards showing 
clean heels, and the pirate close after them ! The 
foremost ones escaped, but the two in the rear, 
lagging behind the rest, were caught and captured. 



A PACK OF WOLVES 153 

Pie de Palo returned in triumph, bringing two 
prizes with him. 

In 1568 La Rochelle, on the Bay of Biscay, was 
the centre of French buccaneering. The Prince 
of Conde had established his headquarters in this 
Huguenot seaport, and collected around him Prot- 
estant adventurers of every nationality. Under 
the disguise of his flag, the pirate squadrons sailed 
the ocean, and flung themselves into Spanish ports. 
Fifty corsair ships ravaged the x^tlantic coasts, 
cruised for the gold fleet, captured richly laden 
merchantmen, and tossed their crews into the sea. 
Every year, three hundred thousand ducats' worth 
of booty was stuffed into the holds of the French 
marauders, and as the English rovers had held the 
Channel from Penzance to Dover, so now the French 
free-lances were masters of the sea from Ushant 
to Finisterre. 



CHAPTER XIV 
BUCCANEERING IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA 

' There was nothing niggardly or exclusive, 
nothing sectional or provincial, about the Carib- 
bean Sea, whatever may be said of the Spaniards 
who at one time seemed to look upon it as a 
private lake of their own. They closed the en- 
trance doors and hung up warning notices, " No 
admittance," '' Dangerous passing," hoping in this 
way to discourage tramps and trespassers. But 
Europe believed in open doors then, as she does 
now, and she was determined to force the bars. 
Besides, the spirit of the waters could not be 
thwarted : it was free, tolerant, hospitable, and 
its reputation for lavishness and wealth spread 
abroad. Its gifts of jewels, slaves, and " pieces of 
eight " were open to all who would come and take. 
Sea-tramps of almost every land and nation began 
to cross the Atlantic and force the closed doors 
of the treasure-house of the West Indies, and in 
spite of the Spaniards the Caribbean Sea became 
a cosmopolitan centre. 

^^^Among the first to come were the cattle drivers 
and wood-cutters, the hunters and traders, who 

164 



BUCCANEERING IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA 155 

were attracted by the independent, wild, and law- 
less life. They gathered in large colonies, accord- 
ing to their nationality, and settled on many of the 
islands, — on Jamaica, Hayti, and Tortuga, — where 
they carried on the double trade of hunting wild 
oxen, boars, and swine through the tangled and 
matted forests, and of hunting jewels and pieces 
of eight on the smooth waters of the sea. These 
were the real buccaneers, these half traders, half 
corsairs, who combined work and plunder, and 
divided the year between chasing animals and 
chasing ships. ^ Their name, "buccaneer," which 
came from the peculiar process they used in smok- 
ing and drying beef and pork, called the boiican 
process, they in turn handed down to all those who 
adopted the other half of their trade, — piracy. It 
seems strange that a word which has come to mean 
sea-robbery on a large scale, and has been applied 
to corsairs of every nation, should have originated 
among landlubbers and the beef-drying trade. 
These colonies of hunters became the centres and 
headquarters of all the sea-rovers who every year 
flocked in larger numbers to the treasure-house of 
the West:j^ 

^It was a long procession of adventurers that 
came stealing across the Atlantic to the forbidden 
sea. One could see their white sails flapping in 
the wind as they scudded over the ocean, like a 
great clothes-line stretched from Europe to Amer- 
ica. And what a mixed procession it was ! Eng- 



156 SEA-WOLYES OF SEYEX SHORES 

lish, French, Dutch, Portuguese — Protestants and 
Huguenots mostly — beggars and nobles, boys and 
men, dashing coxcombs and rough, uneducated 
boors. There were business speculators who 
wanted to make a rich deal in the market and win 
a fortune at one bold stroke. There were rovers 
and free-lances who loved a life of freedom and 
unrestraint. There were religious discontents 
who fled from persecution. There were younger 
sons who could not earn a living at home and 
came to amass riches. 

Those who were in debt, or unfortunate, or 
suspected, or unscrupulous, and those who only 
craved excitement and adventure, flocked to the 
El Dorado of the New World. And, above all, 
men who hated Spain, who loathed the Inquisition, 
and execrated the memory of Philip II, came for 
their revenge, to rifle Spanish ships, injure Spanish 
trade, slaughter Spanish menV 
^^In those early days West Indian buccaneering 
was something more than petty piracy. It was 
an organized system, in which race fought against 
race, and religion against religion. It was Spain 
on one side, and those whom she had oppressed 
and persecuted on the other-r> This was the com- 
mon bond that united together all the roving 
miscellany that gathered among the Antilles. 

The buccaneers took their profession very seri- 
ously and went about it in a solemn and systematic 
manner. They formed themselves into temporary 



BUCCANEERING IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA 157 

republics, elected their own leader, and at a gen- 
eral council laid down certain rules and regula- 
tions which were subscribed to under oath, and 
became the law of the cruise. When a looting 
expedition had been decided on, notices were sent 
out to all the pirates on the island, appointing a 
day and place of meeting. Each one was to come 
provided with a sufficient stock of powder and 
bullets for the expedition. At the general coun- 
cil the Articles were put down in writing, and 
everything to the minutest detail was carefully 
provided f orD 

^ " No prey, no pay " : that was the pirate law. 
But in case of prey, the plunder was all put into 
the common stock, and out of this the salaries 
and dividends were paid. First in order of pay- 
ment came the salaries of the captain, surgeon, 
and carpenter ; and these varied from 1200 to 
$300 for a cruise. Then the maimed or wounded 
were given awards for the loss of eye or limb. 
The different members and extremities had differ- 
ent valuations and brought different prices. A 
right arm was supposed to be worth $750 ; while 
a left arm was valued at $625. The legs were on 
a somewhat lower scale of worth, and the compen- 
sation for the loss of an eye was only $100, the 
same as for a finger. 

After these special appropriations had been 
made, about $250 were drawn from the common 
stock for the provisions, and the remainder was 



158 SEA-WOLYES OF SEYEIN" SHORES 

divided into equal shares and distributed among all 
the pirates, even including the officers who had 
already received their salaries. To the captain 
were alotted five portions, the master's mate two, 
and the other officers in proportion. The seamen 
had one share each, and the boys half a shared 

When all these details had been set down in 
writing at the general council, each man took a 
solemn oath that he would neither steal nor con- 
ceal any of the plunder for his private use, and if 
afterward he was found to be unfaithful he was 
turned out of the society. The next care was to 
determine where to forage for provisions, what 
Spanish hog-yard or tortoise fisheries to rob, for 
these were the two favorite articles of food among 
the pirates. And after these preliminaries were 
settled, the meeting decided upon the goal of the 
expedition, to what place they should go " to seek 
their desperate fortunes, "i 

In the early days the ships of the buccaneers 
were small, and the companies numbered only 
twenty or thirty men. Sometimes they would 
start out in two or three canoes and lie in wait for 
merchant vessels on the usual thoroughfares of 
trade. When one of their victims came in sight, 
they would steal close alongside, pick off the chief 
officers and men, send a shower of musketry over 
the deck, and then board with a rush before the 
enemy had time to recover himself. Their skill, 
discipline, and strong feeling of fellowship which 



BLXCANEERIXG IX THE CARIBBEAX SEA 159 

bound them to one another like brothers, their 
strength, agility, and remarkable endurance, always 
gave them the superiority over an enemy three 
and four times their sizCj^J 

^^The pirates were not, at first, harsh or cruel to 
their prisoners. The officers of the captured ships 
were put under ransom, and the common seamen 
were usually set ashore on the nearest island. It 
was only later that to the thirst for gold was added 
the thirst for blood. On the whole the earlv 
buccaneers were a rough but not inhuman set of 
ruffians, with a rude sense of honor, justice, and 
devotion among themselves, but with very little 
conscience about the property of others. It is 
true, however, that they looked upon the riches 
they plundered as having been already robbed by 
the Spaniards, whom they counted as more whole- 
sale and stupendous thieves than themselves. 



CHAPTER XV i 

A WISE AND A FOOLISH PIRATE ' 

One of the first pirates to become distinguished \ 

among the French freebooters on the island of ^ 

Tortuga was Peter the Great. It is not often that ■ 

a man can win a kingly nickname and the fame of \ 

a lifetime by a single act. But Peter succeeded I 
in doing this. He leaped into sudden prominence 

by a brilliant stroke, amassed a fortune, acquired ] 

an envied reputation, set a shining example, and i 

then had the wisdom to retire from business. In ! 
this way he always remained " great " and pre- 
served a certain halo of romance, besides making 

sure of his riches. If all speculators would show j 
an equal amount of sagacity, they would be lucky. 

Peter the Great was born at the seafaring town 
of Dieppe in Normandy, the very centre of that 

coast noted for its wild rovers and robbers. It is ] 

not unlikely that he came of pirate stock from the : 

ease with which he turned adventurer, and sailed ' 

across to the sea where gold and freedom could be I 

had by every comer if he were fortunate. At first | 

Peter was not very successful ; he was just able to I 
make a living, and even suffered from hunger now 

160 j 



A WISE AND A FOOLISH PIRATE 161 

and then. He found that his chosen profession 
was rather uncertain and had its ups and downs ; 
as in most pursuits, it was something of a struggle 
to get well established. But he had a natural 
gift of command and soon rose to the position 
of leader among his companions. 

His opportunity came in the most unexpected 
manner, and he was quick and daring enough to 
seize it. He had been cruising with his little 
band of followers for a long time without finding 
any prey. All together there were twenty-nine 
men, huddled together in a small boat, out on the 
empty sea. Not a sail had been seen for days, 
their provisions had given out, they saw no fate in 
store for them but starvation unless they could 
reach one of their haunts before their strength 
failed them. But this seemed impossible, and 
they were filled with despair. 

Suddenly a great ship loomed up in the distance. 
She was no less than the vice-admiral of the Span- 
ish fleet, and her huge bulk swept slowly and 
majestically over the water. Although she had 
become separated from the rest of the fleet, her 
captain felt no alarm, for Spanish vessels had 
passed and repassed unmolested through the 
Bahama Channel. A harmless-looking boat with 
some two dozen men in it had been seen cruising 
aimlessly about, and the captain had been warned 
that these were pirates. But he treated the idea 
with fine scorn. And even if they were, what 



162 SEA-WOLYES OF SEYE^ SHORES 

of it ? Should he be afraid of such a cockle- 
shell ? 

Meanwhile on the innocent-looking craft there 
had been suppressed excitement and fierce resolves. 
Better to die by the sword than by starvation ! 
The extremity of their fortunes had driven them 
to a devil-may-care point of recklessness. They 
were ready for a desperate game, and they would 
take the ship or be killed to a man. These medi- 
tations had brought them under the lee of the 
great Spanish vessel, and her sides frowned menac- 
ingly upon them. When they were so close under 
her that retreat was more dangerous than attack, 
they realized that it would be easier "to extract 
sunbeams from cucumbers " than to subdue this 
giant. 

The freebooters faced the crisis with grim and 
solemn fortitude. They swore an oath to their 
captain, Peter the Great, that they would bear 
themselves without '' fear or fainting " in the com- 
ing struggle. They then ordered the surgeon of 
the boat to bore holes in her sides so that she 
would gradually sink under them and they would 
thus be forced into a life-and-death struggle. 
Truly they sank their ship behind them. 

It was now the dusk of the evening. Only 
vague shapes could be seen moving here and 
there in the shadow. Pistol in one hand and 
sword in the other, the pirates climbed stealthily 
up the sides of the ship like so many wildcats. 



A WISE AND A FOOLISH PIRATE 163 

Without a word or a sound Peter and his men 
dashed down to the cabin. It was all done with 
so much swiftness and stealth that no alarm was 
raised, no warning given. The surprise was 
complete. 

The Spanish captain was playing cards in the 
cabin with several of his younger officers. He 
looked up to see a crowd of ruffians rush in and 
the leader of the gang hold a pistol at his breast, 
demanding that he should deliver up the ship. 
In his amazement he cried, " Are these devils, or 
what are they ? " While Peter was parleying 
with the Spanish captain in this cavalier manner, 
one half of his crew had taken possession of the 
gun-room, seized the arms and stores, and killed 
all those who made resistance. The remainder of 
the ship's company thought it wiser to surrender 
than to follow the fate of their dead comrades. 

This was how Peter the Great captured the 
Spanish vice-admiral. Having made himself mas- 
ter of his magnificent prize, he retained as many 
seamen as he had need of to man the ship, and 
with lordly clemency set the rest on shore as free 
men. This done, he hoisted sail for France, and 
carried with him all the riches that filled the hold 
of his gorgeous new vessel. 

5" Peter departed from his haunts in a blaze of 
glory. Never again was he seen in those parts, 
but the renown of his exploit remained behind to 
dazzle the eyes and turn the heads of every planter 



164 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

and hunter on the island of Tortuga. Although 
Peter was a worldly wise pirate and was loaded 
with no heavy list of crimes to distress his con- 
science, it must be said that he had a most unfor- 
tunate moral influence on those whom he left 
behind. 

Men of honest, humble, and peaceful avocations 
abandoned their work and took to piracy. There 
was a mad scramble for boats. Any kind of a 
craft would serve provided it could float. The 
demand was greater than the supply. And as 
Tortuga offered no field for either the purchase 
or the building of vessels, men took to their canoes 
and went in search of them elsewhere. 

The new fad grew with such alacrity that in two 
years' time there were as many as twenty pirate 
ships of Tortuga alone that went cruising among 
the islands, capturing Spanish ships laden with 
plate, vessels carrying hides and tobacco, and 
coasters freighted with every species of com- 
modity. These looted treasures were then sold 
to vessels stopping at the port of Tortuga, and 
the island soon became a regular mart for pirated 
goods. 

Peter the pioneer was followed by a long list of 
pirates more or less talented, and among them was 
the French freebooter Peter Francis, who was a 
pearl specialist. He was the equal of the first 
Peter in daring, but not his equal in success. 

It seemed to be no uncommon thing for the 



A WISE AND A FOOLISH PIRATE 165 

pirates to be straitened in their circumstances every 
now and then, and reduced not only to their last 
penny, but to their last morsel of food. Chance 
often chose to be a hard taskmaster. Such was the 
state of affairs with Peter Francis and his boon com- 
panions when we first hear of them. They were 
twenty-seven men in a boat — twenty-seven empty 
men, in an empty boat, on an empty sea. But so 
far from being daunted by the prospect, it seemed 
only to stimulate and whet their spirit. 

After vainly cruising among the islands off the 
South American coast, watching intently for those 
heavily laden Spanish ships that were due to come 
from Maracaibo, but whose sails could nowhere 
be espied, they hatched a bolder scheme. Des- 
peration lent them audacity. Gathering together 
in sombre council, they listened with sparkling 
eyes to the daring proposition of their chief. 
Peter Francis laid before them no less an adven- 
ture than to attack the pearl fleet then riding at 
anchor at the mouth of the La Hacha River. A 
famous bank of pearls lay along the coast not far 
from Cartagena, and the fisheries yielded every 
year a rich return, the dexterous and agile negroes 
diving sometimes to a depth of six fathoms under 
water to hunt the precious gems. 

The fleet of a dozen pearl vessels, protected by 
a Spanish man-of-war and a vice-admiral, was even 
at that moment preparing to weigh anchor. The 
risks of attacking it would be heavy, but the gain 



166 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

would be fabulous. The pirates unanimously de- 
cided to try their luck. It so happened that the 
man-of-war was riding half a league from the rest 
of the fleet, and this at least was in their favor. 

When the pirates sighted the pearl fleet, they 
lowered their sail and took to their oars, rowing 
in a leisurely fashion along the coast. The wind 
had dropped, and the sea was calm and peaceful. 
The strange rowboat, which pretended to be a 
passing Spanish craft bound to Maracaibo, excited 
no suspicion. It was making its way along the 
pearl bank, and was about to pass astern of the 
vice-admiral, when the placid rowers suddenly 
threw away their oars, seized their swords and 
pistols, and leaped up the sides of the vessel. 

The Spanish ship was mounted with eight guns 
and manned by a crew of sixty men, who put up 
a good fight, although they were caught by sur- 
prise. There was a short, vigorous struggle, but 
the fierce and impetuous assault of Peter and his 
men bore down the Spaniards, and in a few 
moments the deck was cleared and the crew made 
prisoners. Then with promises and menaces he 
forced his captives to obey his orders and navi- 
gate the ship. 

Peter issued his commands with quick decision, 
and, under the persuasion of the pistol's muzzle, 
the Spanish crew did his bidding with alacrity. 
His own pirate boat was sunk, the Spanish flag 
was run up at the masthead, anchors were weighed. 



A WISE AXD A FOOLISH PIRATE 167 

sails hoisted, and the ship got under way. With 
a little clever stratagem Peter Francis hoped to 
beguile and overpower the formidable man-of-war 
that rode at anchor at the mouth of the river, and 
thus become master of the entire fleet. 

But, unfortunately for Peter, the Spanish captain 
was unusually vigilant. Seeing that one of his 
fleet was under sail, and fearing lest his sailors 
should have some treacherous design of making 
off with the vessel and the booty, he too got under 
way. This manoeuvre disturbed Peter's plan, and 
he hurriedlv chanofed his tactics. He had no in- 
tention of measuring himself face to face in open 
conflict with a heavy man-of-war. So he pressed 
on all sail and headed for the open seas, hoping 
that he could slip out of the river and away. 

The man-of-war followed in pursuit, and the 
chase promised to be a lively one. The two ships 
scudded through the water under a crowd of 
canvas, ropes groaning, masts straining. Peter 
had a fair start and the chances were in his favor. 
All would have been well had it not been for a 
malicious gust of wind and injudicious seaman- 
ship. The masts were taxed to their utmost ; no 
allowance was made for a sudden shift of breeze. 
And the wilful wind chose that moment to blow 
with redoubled energy. A rending crack, a 
crushing and splintering of wood, and the main- 
mast fell crashing into the water. 

There was no escape now for the pirates. The 



168 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

man-of-war swept alongside and poured in her 
shot and missiles. But, even with these tremen- 
dous odds against them, Peter and his men made 
a stubborn resistance. Although they knew that 
in the end they would be forced to surrender, 
they meant not to do it tamely, and went so far 
as to hold out for conditions. Finally, with the 
stipulation that they should not be sold into 
slavery, but be put ashore free to go where they 
pleased, they consented to give up the ship. 

It was hard to lose that superb cargo of pearls, 
which was worth more than a hundred thousand 
pieces of eight, besides the vessel with its provi- 
sions, arms, and stores. But these were the 
chances of piracy. If it had not been for that 
broken mainmast, Peter Francis would have 
been almost second in fame to Peter the Great. 



CHAPTER XVI 
A CHAPTER OF CHANCES 

\ The island of Jamaica was a favorite and con- 
venient base of operations for pirates of many 
nationalities. It lay halfway between the Channel 
of Yucatan and the Windward Isles, on the direct 
route of trade between Cuba and South America. 
English, Dutch, and Portuguese gathered in its 
creeks and inlets, sallied out on their marauding 
jaunts, and returned to refit and sell their 
plunder.^ 

Here Bartholomew Portugues set up his head- 
quarters and mustered around him a band of 
thirty followers. Although captain of a small 
crew he seems to have been better off than some, 
for his boat was mounted with four guns. In this 
modest craft he was cruising off a headland on 
the island of Cuba, when he sighted a large gal- 
leon bearing down with superb magnificence. 
Her sails were spread to the wind, her twenty 
great guns gazed out grimly over the water, her 
seventy seamen were busy hauling ropes and 
bustling about on deck. For the ship was fairly 
on her way and fast nearing her home port. She 

169 



170 SEA-WOLYES OF SEYEIST SHORES 

was bound from Cartagena to Havana, and that 
meant a rich and precious cargo in her hold. 

She was sailing along the southern coast of 
Cuba when a small and rather despicable-looking 
boat had the insolence to attack her. But what 
could such a pygmy do against a giant? The 
galleon beat off the stupid craft as one would a 
yelping, blundering cur. But Bartholomew — 
for it was he — would not allow himself to be so 
easily disposed of. He hauled off to escape seri- 
ous damage to his boat, and then started on a 
series of vexing, swift, dexterous assaults, which 
kept the Spaniards in a state of constant irritation 
and nervousness. By the agility of his move- 
ments he managed to elude the galleon's guns, 
and with every darting, dashing attack he picked 
off man after man until more than twenty had 
fallen. 

With a final rush he boarded the ship, cleared 
the decks after a hard struggle, and found himself 
master of a rich prize. In the hold was stored a 
cargo of seventy thousand pieces of eight, a hun- 
dred and twenty thousand weight of cocoanuts, 
and other plunder. With this precious booty, 
Bartholomew spread sail for the Cape of St. 
Anthony, on the western point of Cuba, where 
he proposed to repair and refit while waiting for 
a favorable wind to carry him back to Jamaica. 

But he had reckoned without the chances of the 
sea and of fortune, two fickle godmothers. Shel- 



A CHAPTER OF CHAXCES 171 

ter had nearly been reached, the cape was almost 
in sight, and their booty in their grasp, when the 
pirates ran into a hornets' nest. Three great 
ships loomed unexpectedly upon them. They 
were on their way from New Spain to Havana. 
At a glance Bartholomew knew that he was 
doomed ; the wind was dead foul, he could not 
fly, and there was no chance in a stand-up fight 
of one against three. So he made the best of his 
fate and surrendered to superior numbers. 

The wheel had reversed, and the melancholy 
freebooters found themselves stripped of all their 
plundered riches and thrown into chains. But, 
as in stock gambling, no one knows when the 
next rise will come. It so happened that before 
the ships had reached port, when they were mak- 
ing their way through the Channel of Yucatan, a 
sudden and fierce storm burst over them. The 
gale scattered the ships, and they each beat for 
shelter as best they could. The vessel on which 
the pii^ates were prisoners ran along the coast of 
Yucatan and put into the river harbor of Cam- 
peche. 

The whole town turned out to see the incoming: 
ship, and the chief merchants of the place came 
down to welcome the Spanish captain. The arri- 
val of vessels was an event of the greatest interest;" 
they brought news from the outside world, they 
were the floating newspapers, the purveyors of 
gossip and current happenings. And to-da}' the 



172 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

Spanish ship had a thrilling story to tell : pirates 
assaulted, captured, chained, the famous Bartholo- 
mew Portugues a prisoner ! 

The news spread over Campeche and roused the 
people into a fever of fury. Well was Bartholo- 
mew remembered on that coast ; his record and 
his deeds were still fresh in the minds of men and 
women whose homes he had plundered and burned, 
whose brothers and sons he had murdered. He 
was in their hands now, at the mercy of their 
vengeance. 

The pirates were taken into custody and carried 
ashore, there to be dealt with. But for Bartholo- 
mew a special fate had been reserved, and he was 
left on board ship under a strong guard. He had 
escaped once before from the people of Campeche, 
and they were careful that he should not slip 
through their fingers again. Meanwhile they set 
up a gibbet on the shore within sight of the ship, 
and on it Bartholomew was to be hung the next 
day. 

The news of his own speedy execution did not 
fail to reach the ears of the solitary pirate. He 
knew that if he were to escape at all it must be 
done that night, but the trouble was that he had 
never learned to swim. However, he did not 
despair, and relied on his ingenuity to shape a 
way out of the difficulty. He found two large 
earthen jars such as are used by the Spaniards 
for transporting wine, and these he /Stopped very 



A CHAPTER OF CHAXCES 173 

tight so that no water could leak in. Then he 
sat down and waited for the night. 

As soon as darkness fell and all on board were 
asleep, he crept over to the corner where the sentry 
that guarded him lay at full length on the floor, 
and plunged a knife up to the hilt into his heart. 
The man died without a groan. Then Bartholomew 
threw the earthen jars into the water and leaped 
headlong after them through the port. Hanging 
on to his improvised life-preserver he managed 
to half drift and half swim, or beat the water with 
his legs, and succeeded in reaching the shore be- 
fore daylight without being detected. As soon 
as he set foot on land he took to the woods and 
lay in hiding for three days with no food but wild 
herbs. 

AVhen the Spaniards discovered the next morn- 
ing that their prisoner had escaped, they were 
filled with rage and disappointment. Several 
search parties were sent out and they beat the 
woods for miles around; but Bartholomew, from 
his hiding-place in the hollow of a tree, laughed 
at them in his sleeve. At the end of the third 
day the pursuit seemed to have been given up, 
and Bartholomew thought it safe to sally out of 
his retreat. 

Keeping within sight of the shore, he tramped 
eastward day after day. A small calabash filled 
with water was his only store of provisions, and 
when he was hungry he would hunt for the few 



174 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

shell-fish that were sometimes hidden among the 
rocks of the shore. He was often hungry and 
exhausted, but still he plodded on. After several 
days he reached a broad river. Here was a new 
difficulty, for he could not swim, and there was 
nothing in the woods of which to make a buoy. 
But his quick eye caught sight of an old piece of 
board which had been washed up by the waves, 
and in which were fastened a few large nails. 

This was a treasure to Bartholomew. Patiently 
and with much labor he whetted the nails on a 
stone, until they were sharp enough to hack with. 
Then he cut down some small branches of trees, 
tied them together with twigs, and built himself 
a raft. No river now could stop him ; he carried 
his raft on his back, and whenever he came to a 
stream he paddled across, with a branch for an 
oar. Two Aveeks from the day of his escape he 
reached the Caj)e of Golfo Triste. 

There he found a pirate vessel belonging to 
some of his friends and comrades, and we can 
picture to ourselves the pride and relish with 
which he related his adventures and strange ex- 
periences, and the eager interest with which his 
listeners gathered around him and drank in his 
tale of alternate triumph and misfortune. He 
became a hero in their eyes, and they were ready 
to do anything for him. 

One would suppose that after all these vicissi- 
tudes Bartholomew would not have cared even to 



A CHAPTER OF CHANCES 175 

see those Spanish ships again, but this was not his 
way of thinking. He asked his friends to pro- 
vide him with a boat and twenty men, and with 
this small force he promised to return to Cam- 
peche and capture the vessel from which he had 
made his escape. Stealing back along the coast, 
he slipped unnoticed into the river, took the Span- 
iards by surprise, and carried the ship by assault. 
Then he weighed anchor, hoisted sail, and glided 
jubilantly out to sea before the town was aroused. 

It was with triumph and self-satisfaction that 
Bartholomew headed for Jamaica. After his 
many adversities he had wrung success out of 
fate ; he was rich and powerful, master of a ship 
and a valuable booty. But he allowed himself 
to rejoice too soon. Hardly had he reached the 
Isle of Pines, on the south side of Cuba, when a 
fearful tropical storm broke loose with relentless 
intensity. The fierce gale of wind picked up his 
vessel as if it had been a cockle-shell, and dashed it 
viciously against the dangerous rocks of the Jar- 
dines. The side of the vessel stove in against the 
sharp reef, and was crushed into a mangled wreck. 
The pirates escaped in a canoe and, after many 
days of hard rowing and harder privations, they 
arrived at Jamaica poorer than when they had 
left. 

No less exciting were the adventures of another 
frequenter of the Jamaican lairs, whose favorite 
pirating ground was along the unfortunate shores 



176 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

of Campeche. He was a Dutchman, of a fierce, 
implacable, and cruel nature, whose national and 
fiery hatred of Spain was his evil passion, and 
drove him into pitiless and horrible acts of ven- 
geance. He was born in the Netherlands, but 
lived for many years in Brazil while it was in the 
possession of the Dutch West India Company. 
When the Portuguese conquered the country, our 
Dutchman, with many others, was obliged to flee, 
and, seeing no other opening for him, he took 
refuge on the Island of Jamaica, and joined the 
Society of Pirates. Not choosing to be known by 
his own name, his fellow-freebooters called him 
Roc the Brazilian. 

|Roc soon won the esteem and admiration of his 
comrades, and his ability marked him as a future 
commander. At first all was peace and harmony 
among the thieves ; the pirates of Jamaica were 
no exception to the rule that thieves treat each 
other well. They were liberal and open-handed ; 
if a comrade had been unfortunate and lost his 
goods, his friends shared their stores with him. 
But occasionally there were quarrels, and it so 
happened that in Roc's company some of the men 
had an altercation with their captain, and seceded. 
They set up a company of their own, and appointed 
Roc as captain?^ 

The first act of the new pirate-commander was 
the brilliant capture of a large Spanish ship laden 
with plate, and this exploit brought him instant 



A CHAPTER OF CHAXCES 177 

renown. But his fame was of a lurid, dismal kind 
that filled people with not unreasoning fear. For 
Roc was of a vicious character, and amused him- 
self with many diabolic pastimes. He was espe- 
cially fond of getting drunk, and then parading up 
and down the streets with a club, beating and 
wounding any chance passers-by. He was more 
successful than any squad of police would have 
been in clearing the streets, for every one turned 
and fled at his approach. 

But Roc had already tired of these land diver- 
sions by the time he had run through his money, 
and was ready to start out anew in search of prey. 
On one of these expeditions he ran into a violent 
tempest, such as often sweep across the Caribbean 
Sea, and his boat was wrecked off the coast near 
Campeche. The whole band of pirates managed 
to save themselves in a canoe, with nothing but 
their muskets and a small store of powder and 
shot. Their one hope was to reach Golfo Triste, 
which lay several days' march beyond them, and 
was a well-known refitting and meeting place for 
the filibusters. 

The little band of thirty pirates started out 
hopefully on their journej^ with hunger and thirst 
for their companions ; but these were not their 
only enemies. They had not gone far along the 
coast when they heard the dull thud of horses' 
hoofs, and knew they were being pursued. 
Nearer and nearer, louder and louder, grew the 



178 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

thundering, and then a troop of a hundred Span- 
ish horsemen swept into sight. Roc turned to 
his men : " Let us die fighting like brave men," 
he cried, " rather than surrender to the Spaniards 
and be tortured." 

Fired with desperate courage, they faced the 
Spanish troop and received them with a murder- 
ous volley of artillery. Every shot did its work, 
and twenty horsemen fell on the first onslaught. 
Then the melee became general, and, after an 
hour's hard fighting, those that remained of the 
Spanish horsemen were put to flight. The pirates 
took possession of everything they could find, 
mounted the riderless horses, and pressed on 
toward Golfo Triste. But they were not destined 
to reach the pirate station, for on the way they 
espied a flotilla of canoes lading wood under 
convoy of a small war-ship that rode at anchor 
close by. 

It was no great feat for the sturdy buccaneers 
to capture this entire fleet and to appropriate the 
provisions and stores which they found on board. 
The food supply, however, seems to have been 
scant, for they were obliged to kill their horses 
and salt the flesh. Still, they managed to live on 
corned horse-meat for many days, and found it 
better than wild herbs. On their return voyage 
they ran in with and seized a Spanish ship carry- 
ing a cargo of merchandise and money. With 
this array of prizes Roc and his men swept into 



A CHAPTER OF CHANCES 179 

Jamaica and, it is said, wasted in a few days all 
they had gained. 

The Brazilian's next cruise was not so fortunate. 
He had grown overbold and reckless ; success 
had turned his head and made him think that he 
was invincible. He had made sail for his usual 
marauding ground on the shores of Yucatan, and 
was lying off the harbor of Campeche, when he 
was seized with the rash desire to reconnoitre the 
port in a small boat and spy out the prospect of 
plunder. But he had ventured once too often 
into the very jaws of the enemy. 

Roc and his few followers were captured, car- 
ried prisoners to the town, and, by order of the 
governor, thrown into a foul dungeon. The next 
day they were to be hung in the market-place. 
In this fatal dilemma the pirate's cunning came 
to Roc's aid. He wrote a letter that feigned to 
come from a body of pirates in the offing, and 
managed to smuggle it out of the prison and into 
the hands of the governor. In it the supposed 
pirates threatened that never for all time would 
they give quarter to any Spaniard who should fall 
into their hands, if Roc and his comrades came to 
any harm. 

This menace had its effect upon the governor. 
What might not these cruel and dreaded bucca- 
neers do if roused to fury ? Their ravages had 
already spread terror along the entire coast. 
What new and terrible depredations might they 



180 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

not be capable of to avenge the death of their com- 
rades? These thoughts made the governor very 
uneasy, and after a sleepless and anxious night he 
decided to release his prisoners and deport them 
to Spain. Forcing them to take an oath that they 
would abandon piracy forever, he shipped them in 
a Spanish galleon as common sailors, and hoped to 
be rid of his troublesome captives. 

It is not to be expected that pirates would keep 
their oaths, and as soon as Roc and his men set 
foot on the coast of Spain they promptly took pas- 
sage in a return boat and set sail again for the 
West Indies. 



CHAPTER XVII 
THE STORY OF A WICKED BUCCAXEER 

[The rapid spread of piracy was alarming the 
peaceful colonists of the West Indies, and the 
buccaneers themselves, elated by their successes, 
were growing every year more arrogant. Un- 
fortunately the only remedy that suggested itself 
to the not over-fertile mind of the Spaniards re- 
sulted only in killing the small concerns and giving 
birth to the trusts. The business from being 
retail became wholesale, and the field of operations, 
instead of being confined to a limited area, stretched 
over vast tracts of land and sea. 

As the Spaniards could not conquer or subdue 
the pirates, they conceived the idea of starving 
them out, a scheme that afterward succeeded with 
the Chinese because they carried it out in a sys- 
tematic and sweeping way. But with the Span- 
iards it was onlv a weak makeshift and failed 
lamentably. They hoped that if the buccaneers 
could find no prey they would either die of hunger 
or renounce their wicked ways. An order there- 
fore went forth to restrict all commerce in the 
Caribbean Sea. Fewer ships were to be sent out ; 

181 



182 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

the trading coasters that plied between the islands 
were to barter only the necessaries of life ; and as 
for the larger vessels that carried to Spain the 
treasures of the West, they were to be reduced to 
the smallest possible number. As trade could not 
be protected, stop all trade. It was a primitive 
way of cutting the Gordian Knot, and merely 
caused worse trouble, because, we are told, " the 
pirates, finding not so many ships at sea as before, 
began to gather into greater companies, and land 
upon the Spanish dominions, ruining whole cities, 
towns, and villages." 

The Caribbean Sea no longer satisfied them. 
They spread up the Atlantic coast, and crossed 
over to the South Sea. They mounted the rivers 
and penetrated into the heart of the land. They 
sacked and captured towns, laid cities under ran- 
som, and extorted blackmail. Their captains had 
become admirals, their boats had turned into fleets, 
their companies into armies, and their skirmishes 
for plunder had taken the shape of devastating 
wars."! 

One of the first of these noted piratical leaders 
was a Frenchman known far and wide over the 
West Indies as Francis L'Ollonois. He was born 
in France at the Sables d'OUone and had been 
transported while still a boy to the Caribbean Sea, 
and there sold into slavery. From the scarcity 
of slaves in the West Indies and the need of the 
planters for servants and laborers there had started 



THE STORY OF A WICKED BUCCANEER 183 

a regular traffic in young men and boys. Both in 
England and France dealers in slaves went about 
either kidnapping or beguiling youths and trans- 
porting them to the islands. There they were 
sold for a period of three or seven years. As these 
j^oung white slaves were not the permanent prop- 
erty of their owners they were maltreated and 
mercilessly beaten, subjected to every kind of ex- 
posure and neglect, and forced to do the severest 
and most menial labor. It was only the strong, 
the rough, and the low born who outlived, this 
treatment. L'Ollonois was one of these.u. v - ' '^ 
When he had served his time and gained his 
freedom he went to the island of Hispaniola and 
turned hunter. Dressed in blood-stained skins, 
with musket and knife he went in pursuit of the 
wild oxen and swine, and for a time supported 
himself by smoking and salting the meat. His 
next venture was to go to sea as a common sailor, 
and in this capacity he showed so much knowledge, 
skill, and daring that he rose high in the favor of 
his employers. Monsieur de la Place, the gov- 
ernor of Tortuga, heard of his ability, presented 
him with a ship, and gave him his start in life as 
a fortune-hunter. The planters and hunters of 
Tortuga were themselves half buccaneers, and the 
island owed so much of its prosperity and wealth 
to piracy that even the governors aided and abetted 
the commerce in stolen goods and had a hand in 
more than one plundering venture. ^ 



184 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

L'OUonois' ruling passion was a bitter and 
merciless hatred of Spain. This, combined with 
a ferocious, cruel, and perfidious nature capable 
of the lowest baseness and the most savage bru- 
tality, soon made his name a terror to every 
Spaniard. Rather than fall into his hands they 
would choose to die fighting or sink with their 
ships. They returned hate for hate, and no fate 
seemed too inhimian to reserve for the infamous 
buccaneer. 

Almost at the beginning of L'OUonois' career 
as a pirate he met with his first misfortune. A 
severe storm wrecked his ship off the coast of 
Campeche, and left him and his followers stranded 
on the enemy's ground. The buccaneers saved 
themselves from drowning by swimming ashore, 
but hardly had they set foot on dry land than they 
ran into worse danger. A large body of Spaniards 
fell upon them in a furious attack and either 
killed or wounded almost the entire company of 
freebooters. 

L'OUonois was only slightly wounded, and 
greatly feared that he might be discovered by 
the Spaniards and fall alive into their power. 
They would, he knew, subject him to the most 
horrible tortures, and death of any kind would 
be better. So, as he lay upon the ground, he 
took several handfuls of sand, mixed it with the 
blood from his own wounds, and with this lurid 
compound he besmeared his face and hands to 



THE STORY OF A WICKED BUCCANEER 185 

give them a ghastly look. Then he dragged him- 
self among his dead comrades, and lay there like 
one of them until every vestige of a Spaniard had 
disappeared from the field. 

For the next few days L'Ollonois lay in hiding 
among the woods. He had managed to dress 
and bind his own wounds, and before long they 
were sufficiently healed for him to walk. Dis- 
guising himself in the clothes of one of the dead 
Spaniards, he made his way to the to^vn of Cam- 
peche and went about fearlessly among a people 
who w^ould have butchered him alive had they 
recognized him. But all thought him dead, and 
he found the towoi busy in rejoicing over the 
news. Bonfires were built and masses sung for 
their happy deliverance from his cruelties and 
depredations. It must have whetted his appetite 
for future revenge to see and hear these joyful 
funeral services that were speeding his guilty 
soul into the next world. 

L'Ollonois did not linger long in a town where 
he could scarcely help feeling like his own ghost. 
He bribed some slaves with promises of liberty, 
induced them to steal a canoe from one of their 
masters, and escaped with them to sea. As soon 
as he reached Tortuga he got possession of another 
ship, by his usual crafty methods, and started out 
again with twenty men in search of fresh booty. 

On this expedition he chose for attack a small 
village on the south coast of Cuba where the 



186 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

inhabitants drove a thriving trade in tobacco, 
sugar, and hides. The shallowness of the water 
along the shore obliged the traders to carry on 
their traffic in small boats, and L'Ollonois thus 
counted on an easy victory. But some fisherman 
had seen him and given warning of his coming. 
A messenger was sent post-haste to Havana ask- 
ing assistance from the governor to help capture 
the pirate. The chief executive of Cuba could 
with difficulty be made to believe that the dead 
buccaneer was still carrying on his favorite pur- 
suit of killing men and stealing money. Had he 
come from another world to torment them ? For 
had he not been killed once already on the shores 
of Campeche ? And none but the devil can die 
more than once. Had L'Ollonois indeed ended 
his career on that battle-field, he would have 
escaped a more fearful fate, and the world would 
have had one villain the less to record. 

At last the bewildered governor was persuaded 
into sending an armed ship to the relief of the 
traders. A vessel mounted with ten guns and 
defended by ninety men ought certainly to anni- 
hilate a dead pirate and his crew. There was also 
a hangman on board, for the governor's orders 
were explicit: they were immediately to hang 
every one of the pirates excepting their dead chief, 
whom, paradoxical as it may seem, they were to 
bring alive to Havana. 

News of the coming of the armed ship had 



THE STOEY OF A WICKED BUCCAXEEPw 187 

reached L'Ollonois, and, with the cunmng of a 
daredevil, instead of taking to flight, he went to 
meet her. She was riding at anchor at the 
mouth of the river Estera. It was night, and the 
pirates slipped close up to the vessel in their two 
canoes before they were discovered. The Span- 
iards took them for fishermen and hailed to know 
if they had seen any pirates abroad. No, they 
had seen nothing of pirates or of anything else. 
So the captain of the vessel concluded that L'Ollo- 
nois had taken to his heels, and was lulled into 
security. But just before daybreak the watch 
was surprised by a fierce gang of thieves, headed 
by the dreaded buccaneer, who scrambled up both 
sides of the ship and fell upon the Spaniards with 
sword and cutlass. The unfortunate crew, roused 
suddenly from their sleep, seized their weapons 
and made a good show of resistance. But they 
were beaten down under the hatches, and L'Ol- 
lonois was master of the ship. 

The tables were turned. The victor sat with 
grinning triumph on deck, and one by one ordered 
the Spanish crew to be brought up. As each man 
reached the deck his head was struck off. Last 
came the negro hangman, who implored piteously 
for mercy, promising to tell all he knew if his life 
were spared. From him the pirate extorted all 
the information he cared for and then despatched 
him to join his companions. Having completed 
this bloody function, he sent an insolent message 



188 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

to the governor of Havana, notifying him that 
never thenceforward would he give quarter to any 
Spaniard whatsoever, adding, "' Thus I have retal- 
iated the kindness you designed to me and my 
companions." 

L'Ollonois now set sail for Tortuga, picked up 
a prize of plate and merchandise on the way, and 
entered the home port with flying colors. The 
successful buccaneer was received with joy and 
congratulations. But he had not returned to be 
feted. He at once called a mass-meeting of all 
the pirates on the Island of Tortuga and set before 
them the vast plan he had hatched to equip a fleet, 
invade the Spanish dominions, and capture the city 
of Maracaibo. His proposition met with unani- 
mous and enthusiastic favor. Not a buccaneer but 
wanted to set sail on that expedition. Even the 
distinguished and wealthy De Basco, who after 
amassing a fortune had retired from business and 
was living in ease and comfort, asked to join the 
fleet as leader of the land forces. 

There was great excitement and bustle at the 
pirate port. Ships were fitted out and provisioned 
for a long voyage ; arms were collected, and six 
hundred and sixty men enlisted in the enterprise. 
It was with quite a smart and warlike air that the 
little fleet of eight vessels set sail in early spring, 
led by Admiral L'Ollonois in his ten-gun ship. 
Their first run was to the north shore of the 
Island of Hispaniola, where they were joined by 




Last came the negro hangman, who implored piteously for mercy 



THE STORY OF A WICKED BUCCANEER 189 

a company of French hunters, and took on a fresh 
store of provisions. Setting sail again they skirted 
eastward along the island and ran into a ship from 
Porto Rico laden with cacao-nuts. 

Admiral L'OUonois reserved for himself the 
pleasure of attacking the Spaniard single-handed, 
and ordered the rest of his fleet to await him at 
Cape Punta d'Espada. It was not without a 
struggle, however, and a good three hours' fight 
that his antagonist was captured, for the Spanish 
ship was mounted with sixteen guns and had fifty 
fighting men on board. She proved a valuable 
prize, for there were no less than forty thousand 
pieces of eight, and jewels worth another ten 
thousand in her hold. L'OUonois commanded her 
to be taken to Tortuga, unladed, and brought back 
to reenforce his fleet. 

Meanwhile his colleagues had not been idle. 
They had run down and seized another Spanish 
eight-gun ship laden with military stores and 
money, and had thus possessed themselves of a 
quantity of powder, muskets, and the ubiquitous 
pieces of eight. This was a promising beginning, 
and L'OUonois found himself strengthened by 
recruits of men and vessels. Transferring his 
black flag to the Spanish sixteen-gun ship, he gave 
the signal to weigh, and spread out toward the 
coast of Venezuela. 

Now is the time to look at the map! We can 
see the pirate fleet as it sweeps southward toward 



190 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

South America, how it approaches that upper 
northwest corner, shortens sail in the offing, and 
casts anchor outside the entrance of the Gulf of 
Venezuela. Then with the map we can picture 
to ourselves clearly the arrangement of islands 
and watch-towers and sandbanks which our au- 
thority and eye-witness, the great literary pirate 
Exquemeling, describes with such care. 

On both sides of the gulf are two small islands ; 
one of these is called Watch Isle, " because in the 
middle thereof is to be seen a high hill, upon which 
stands a house, wherein dwells perpetually a watch- 
man." Opposite lies the Isle of Pigeons, topped 
by a castle whose guns command the only channel 
for ships. This channel is no broader '' than the 
flight of a great gun of eight-pound carriage," 
and is edged by dangerous sandbanks. Between 
these two islands there disgorges a small fresh- 
water lake, which is riddled with treacherous 
sandbanks, such as the Great Table, and whose 
waters flow into the ample gulf of Venezuela. 

On the west shore of the lake lies the town of 
Maracaibo, built in straggling fashion along the 
water's edge. Back of it stretch out rich planta- 
tions of tobacco and cattle ranches that reach as 
far as the large city of Gibraltar, the fruit garden 
of the region. Each side of the lake is inhabited 
by a weird, aerial settlement of human orchids, 
or air men. On the west is a wild and savage 
tribe of Indians, on the east are whole villages of 



THE STORY OF A WICKED BUCCAXEER 191 

peaceful fishermen. All these, braves and fisher- 
folk alike, dwell in small huts built upon the tops 
of the trees that grow in the lake. These hanging 
villages, with their huts standing on stilts, form 
a safe retreat from the millions of mosquitoes and 
gnats that hang over the water, and from the fre- 
quent inundations of the twenty-five rivers that 
feed the lake. 

Few towns could have been better protected by 
natural defences, yet L'Ollonois sailed in with no 
more trouble than if he had been on a pleasure 
trip. Bringing his whole fleet inside the spacious 
port, he cast anchor near the mouth of the lake, 
landed a strong party of men, and attacked the 
earthwork that commanded the bar. He cut off 
and defeated a Spanish ambuscade, and then as- 
saulted the fortress. After a three hours' hand- 
to-hand, sword-and-pistol fight, the defences were 
carried, and almost every vestige of the fort 
destroyed. 

This done, L'Ollonois signalled for his fleet to 
attack the town. The advance was made with 
caution ; canoes full of men were sent forward to 
land under cover of a brisk fire from the ships. 
To their surprise there came no answer from the 
shore. Marching in good order the buccaneers 
entered the town. Not a living person was to 
be seen ; houses and streets were deserted ; the 
people had fled in a body. Men, women, and 
children had escaped to the woods, or retreated 



192 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

in their boats to Gibraltar, carrying with them 
their money and valuables. But they left behind 
them a well-provisioned town, full of flour, bread, 
pork, poultry, brandy, and wines. It was a long 
time since the pirates had found such good cheer, 
and they fell to banqueting and carousing with 
keen zest. 

L'Ollonois and his army possessed themselves 
of the town and settled down to a two weeks' 
visit. Meanwhile, searching parties scoured the 
woods in search of the Spaniards and their riches. 
A few were taken prisoners and put to the torture 
to disclose the hiding-places and lurking-holes of 
their friends. But the Spaniards had buried their 
treasures underground, and led the pirates such a 
will-o'-the-wisp chase through the tangled woods 
that not many were caught. 

Having by this time grown tired of eating and 
drinking, L'Ollonois ordered an advance on Gib- 
raltar. But the people of Gibraltar had been 
well employed during these two weeks ; earth- 
works were thrown up, batteries mounted, pas- 
sages barricaded, and eight hundred men stationed 
to defend the place. When L'Ollonois saw the 
royal standard of Spain floating proudly over the 
town, and every preparation made for a stout 
resistance, he called a council of war. After a 
fiery harangue he made his officers and men prom- 
ise to follow and obey him, and threatened to 
pistol any who showed fear. Then he cast anchor. 



THE STORY OF A WICKED BUCCAXEER 193 

landed with three hundred and eighty men, and 
advanced resolutely upon the town. 

But the usual road through the low, marshy 
woods had been barricaded ; trees had been felled 
and thrown across all the open spaces, and the 
only approach lay across a heavy bog which led 
into the very teeth of the Spanish batteries. As 
they advanced the pirates cut down branches of 
trees and covered the ground with them so as not 
to sink ankle deep in mire and mud. But for all 
their courage they quailed before the deafening 
and blinding storm of shot and missiles that met 
them in the face as they reached the outer edge 
of the woods. They had come full upon a breast- 
work mounted with six heavy guns. And then 
a furious sally of the Spaniards swept the 
buccaneers before them and forced them to 
retreat. 

Again L'OUonois advanced to the attack and 
again the Spaniards let fly their shot with mur- 
derous effect. Force could never carry this re- 
doubt, but stratagem might, and the pirate chief 
decided to try a ruse. The order ran through 
the lines for every man to take to his heels and 
run. The Spaniards cried, '' They flee, they 
flee ! " and rushed headlong in pursuit, following 
far into the woods after the wily fugitives. Then 
came a sharp order ; the pirates faced about and 
fell upon their pursuers with sword and cutlass. 
The muskets of the Spaniards were of little use 



194 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEX SHORES 

in a hand-to-hand fight, and the men were mowed 
down like wheat under the scythe. 

Cutting their way back to the batteries, the 
buccaneers swept all before them. First the 
forts, then the town, were captured ; the Spanish 
colors were hauled down and the pirate flag run 
up in its stead. All the provisions were collected 
for the use of the pirates, and while the Spanish 
prisoners died of hunger, their captors revelled. 

For four weeks L' Ollonois lived in Gibraltar. 
Then he sent his ultimatum to the Spaniards, who 
had fled to the woods : ten thousand pieces of 
eight delivered in two days, or the town would be 
laid in ashes. At the end of the two days he 
began to put his threat into execution, and the 
inhabitants, seeing that he meant what he said, 
hurriedly collected the money, and were glad to 
buy their homes and their freedom at the price of 
their wealth. Returning to Maracaibo L' Ollonois 
claimed an even heavier ransom, and sailed away 
laden with riches and spoils. 

Heading northward, the pirate fleet dropped 
anchor at Cow Island, which was one of their 
usual resorts for revictualling, trading, and storing 
their stolen goods. There they went through 
with the careful, just, and laborious division of 
the plunder. It was an important ceremony, and 
was carried out with exactitude and a strict re- 
gard for pirate laws. Accounts were made up, 
the silks, linen, and jewels were appraised with 



THE STORY OF A WICKED BUCCANEER 195 

amusing disregard or ignorance of value, but 
with great solemnity, and every man was put on 
his oath to be an honest rogue and not conceal or 
take anything from the common stock. 

Then came a division of the gains from high to 
low degree, every one receiving his due and law- 
ful share. The wounded were the first to be given 
their dividends, and they were allotted an extra 
sum as compensation for the loss of limbs or other 
serious mishaps. Even the dead were not forgotten, 
and their shares were reserved for their nearest 
relations or lawful heirs. As soon as this equitable 
transaction had been completed with mutual con- 
cord and satisfaction, the jolly pirates sailed for 
Tortuga, where they squandered in a few weeks 
what had cost so much bloodshed, misery, and 
ruin to accumulate. 

L'Ollonois had now acquired a widespread repu- 
tation as a daring and successful buccaneer. Men 
flocked to enroll themselves under his colors, and 
he was overrun by applicants eager to seek their 
fortunes under his leadership. It was not long 
before he was on the water again, with a fleet of 
six ships and seven hundred men. Plunder, mur- 
der, and fire marked his course. He captured fish- 
ing fleets of canoes with their loads of tortoises, 
sacked Indian villages on the coast, burned Spanish 
storehouses, seized Spanish ships, and tortured 
Spanish prisoners. 

In vain did Spanish soldiers lie in ambuscade. 



196 SEA-WOLVES OF SEyE:N^ SHORES 

or make fiery onslaughts ; with sword and deadly 
fire-balls the pirates fell on them and annihilated 
them. In vain did the people flee to the woods, 
carrying with them their money and treasures ; 
the pirates ferreted them out like rats and robbed 
them of all they could find. Sometimes, however, 
it is pleasant to read that the rabid freebooters 
were disappointed in their search and discovered 
only a few leathern sacks filled with indigo. 

But even after many weeks spent in looting and 
sacking, the hoard was not rich in pieces of eight. 
Those who were new to the business had expected 
to amass a fortune in a few days, and thought that 
pieces of eight " were gathered as easily as pears 
from a tree." There began to be a feeling of 
discontent, and sullen grumblings were heard. 
Finally, when L'OUonois called a council and pro- 
posed to sail for Guatemala, the brooding insub- 
ordination broke out. 

Two of the ringleaders, Moses Vanclein and 
Pierre le Picard, urged secession and induced the 
majority of the company to strike. Sedition is 
contagious, and L'OUonois suddenly found himself 
a disgraced and deserted leader. The rebels 
hoisted sail and sped out to sea on an inde- 
pendent cruise, carrying with them all the small 
vessels in the fleet, and L'OUonois was left alone 
in the Gulf of Honduras. It was at the season 
of the reflux of waters from the gulf, and the 
heavy pirate ship was caught in a trap. She 



THE STORY OF A WICKED BUCCAXEER 197 

could not sail out, and was forced to lie at anchor 
where she was. 

L'Ollonois and his crew began to suffer from 
starvation. Day after day they went ashore in 
search of food, but the country had been swept 
clean of provisions, and they were reduced to the 
point of killing and eating monkeys. At last, 
when they were driven to despair, the waters of 
the gulf began to flow back, and the ship was 
worked cautiously along the shore. Keeping close 
to the land and steering southward, the pirates had 
reached a jutting cape on the Mosquito Coast, near 
the De las Pertas islands, when the ship pitched 
suddenly on to a sandbank. 

Here was a new disaster ! , Guns, iron, and all 
heavy articles were thrown overboard, but she 
stuck fast, and no effort could get her into deep 
water again. Making the best of his misfortune, 
L'Ollonois now decided to break up the ship and 
out of the timber build a long-boat. This was a 
long and tedious piece of work, and meanwhile 
the pirates settled down on the islands for a six 
months' stay. They started a vegetable garden, 
sowed French beans and other seeds, and raised 
different crops. While they were waiting for 
these to grow, which seems to have been a rapid 
affair in that tropical climate if we can rely on 
Mr. Exqueleming, they lived on the fruits of the 
islands, — bananas, " racoven," ananas. It was a 
regular camping-out party. 



198 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

At last the long-boat was finished, but it was 
too small to take them all, so lots were drawn, 
and one-half of the party set out with L'Ollonois, 
promising to return for their comrades. But a 
grim Nemesis was tracking the steps of the 
wicked buccaneer. Having landed at the mouth 
of the river Nicaragua, he was set upon by a fero- 
cious band of Indians and Spaniards, and escaped 
to the boat with only a few of his followers. 
Then, instead of returning to those he had left 
behind on the De las Pertas islands, his evil genius 
carried him to the Gulf of Darien. 

There he fell among a tribe of savage and fero- 
cious Indians, who took him prisoner and doomed 
him to a fate more terrible than any he had him- 
self devised for his victims. He was torn limb 
from limb, and thrown piecemeal into the fire, and 
his ashes were scattered to the wind, that not a 
grain of his inhuman body should remain upon 
the earth. 



CHAPTER XVIII 
THE SEA-KIXG OF THE WEST INDIES 

Greater far than the clever and cruel L'Ollo- 
nois, greater than any of the world's corsair chiefs 
since the days of the Barbarossas of Barbary, was 
Henry Morgan, the sea-king of the Caribbees. 
He was not only one of the most famous pirates 
in the annals of history, and the greatest of the 
magnates who ruled the big pirate trusts of 
the West Indies, but he was a genius in strategy 
and command. 

The quiet, respectable, and hard-working farmer 
stock has given to the world many noted men — 
judges, statesmen, presidents — but seldom has it 
taken such a freak as to breed a pirate. There 
was a rich yeoman who lived on his broad farms 
in Wales, and who belonged to a well-known 
family of the country-side. Many laborers worked 
under him, and he tilled his fields and looked after 
his flocks with laudable regularity. One would 
not have supposed that from this stanch and 
sedate foundation would spring a fiery and fero- 
cious spirit. But there must have been some 
wilder blood than we know of in the old Welsh 

199 



200 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

yeoman for him to have been the father of Henry 
Morgan. 

The young farmer boy soon showed his distaste 
for rural and peaceful occupations. He had no 
desire and no intention to follow his father's call- 
ing ; what he wanted was excitement, freedom, 
adventure. As he grew older he became more 
and more restless and discontented, and then, one 
day, he left home and went to seek his fortunes 
in the nearest seaport town. There he found 
several ships lying at anchor and lading merchan- 
dise for the West Indian mart. On one of these 
he determined to seek service, and not many days 
later he was leaving behind him the shores of 
Wales, and sailing westward, bound for the island 
of BarbadoeS'. 

Although he had come to the land of the free, 
the first thing that happened to him when he 
touched shore was to be sold into slavery by the 
captain of the ship. It was a heavy price to pay 
for his liberty, but he seems to have served his 
term without grumbling, although with some 
hardening, perhaps, of his already reckless heart. 
He had entered a vicious school, and learned its 
lessons only too well. As soon as he had worked 
out his term and regained his freedom, he went to 
Jamaica, the headquarters of the British buccaneers. 
And there, finding two pirate vessels that were on 
the point of setting sail on a cruise, he joined the 
crew and threw in his fortunes with the freebooters. 



THE SEA-KIXG OF THE WEST IXDIES 201 

Here at last lie had hit upon a vocation that 
appealed to him ! He now devoted himself in 
earnest to studying the methods and manners of 
his new confraternity, and was so apt a pupil that 
he soon trained himself to be a capable seaman, 
and a daring, skilful fighter. But he was not 
one to stay long in a subordinate position ; after 
two or three successful voyages that brought him 
in a substantial portion of profits, he had amassed 
a little heap of pieces of eight, enough to buy a 
share in an independent craft. Some of his com- 
rades were ready to join forces and funds with 
him, and together they formed a pirate stock com- 
pany and invested in a small vessel. And we are 
not surprised to hear that Morgan was unani- 
mously chosen as captain of the company. 

This was his first independent start in life, the 
first chance he had had to show his ability as a 
leader, his resolution and dash, and he took full 
advantage of the opportunity. Setting sail in his 
new ship for the coasts of Campeche, he captured 
several merchant vessels, and returned after a 
brilliant cruise laden with prizes and plunder. 

On dropping anchor in the home port, Morgan 
found that the old and distinguished pirate admiral, 
Mansvelt, was equipping a large fleet for an exten- 
sive piratical expedition. The able veteran was 
at once attracted by the daring and successful 
young captain, and, judging him to be a man of 
talent, he offered to make him vice-admiral of his 



202 SEA-WOLVES OP SEVEN SHORES 

fleet. By this stroke of fortune Morgan reached 
at a bound almost the highest position in his 
profession. 

The fleet of fifteen ships set sail from Jamaica 
and headed almost due south for the thin strip of 
continent at Costa Rica. Off the coast lay the 
island of St. Catharine, which belonged to Spain, 
and which Mansvelt coveted as a convenient sta- 
tion and fortress for a pirate colony. It was near 
the rich Panama region, and, if well established at 
this strong base, the freebooters could swoop down 
upon the coast in a series of rapid and bewildering 
descents. 

With pirates, to want is to take. So Mansvelt 
and his vice-admiral landed a large part of their 
five hundred men and stormed the castle. Their 
dashing assault filled the Spaniards with consterna- 
tion, and the garrison hastily surrendered. All 
the forts, excepting one, were demolished, an 
adjoining islet was captured and fortified, and 
Mansvelt's lieutenant, Le Sieur Simon, was left 
with a hundred men to hold their new posses- 
sions, throw up defences, and cultivate the land, 
while the chief himself sped back to Jamaica for 
reenforcements. 

Mansvelt's pet project was to found an inde- 
pendent piratical state on his newly conquered 
island, and he did his best to enlist the help and 
sympathy of the governor of Jamaica. But his 
scheme was not approved of in high places ; the 



THE SEA-KIXG OF THE WEST mDIES 203 

governor, so far from being enthusiastic over the 
plan, discouraged it and refused to lend his sup- 
port. It was one thing to increase the trade and 
prosperity of Jamaica by harboring and abetting 
pirates in his own dominions, and quite another 
thing to aid in establishing an independent and 
dangerous pirate republic. So the scheme failed ; 
no recruits arrived at St. Catharine, but the 
Spaniards came and recaptured the island, taking 
Sieur Simon prisoner. Meanwhile, Mansvelt died 
at Tortuga, and the visionary scheme of a pirate 
Arcadia was never carried out. For Morgan was 
of a more practical and material turn of mind, and 
his ambitions were bounded by his self-interest. 
A convenient storehouse for plunder was all that 
he required ; his aim was to found a private fortune, 
not a pirate state. 

The death of Mansvelt left Captain Morgan at 
the head of his profession, the recognized leader of 
the West Indian pirates. He immediately went 
to work to equip a fleet. Already popular as a 
commander, with a reputation for boldness and 
energy, he found no difficulty in getting together 
a squadron of twelve vessels and seven hundred 
fighting men. " Where shall we go ? " This was 
the first question propounded at the general coun- 
cils, and it always started a lively discussion. 
Freedom of speech was one of the laws of the 
meeting, and every man voiced his own opinion. 
First one place was proposed, then another, and 



204 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

the argument often grew warm as the pirate who 
had the floor urged his particular scheme with 
enthusiasm, and his comrades criticised it with 
equal heat. 

The place finally chosen by Captain Morgan's 
council, which was to be honored by a visit from 
the freebooters, was a fresh and virgin field. It 
had never before been sacked ; it had lain in the 
peaceful possession of its riches without molesta- 
tion, and had carried on its trade on cash pay- 
ments, until, so the report ran, the town was full 
of pieces of eight. This happy town that had so 
far been safe from fire and sword, from lootings 
and blackmail, was Puerto Principe, in the heart 
of Cuba. Its position inland had been its pro- 
tection in the past, but the armies of Captain 
Morgan stopped neither at forests, bogs, nor 
rivers. 

When the goal had been decided on, orders 
were given to weigh anchor, and the fleet made 
sail for the port nearest to Puerto Principe. 
During the run the English pirates discussed 
freely the coming attack and their prospects of 
success, and gloated over an easy capture and 
rich plunder. Little did they dream that one of 
the Spanish prisoners they had on board under- 
stood English and was listening with eager ears to 
every word of their plans. As soon as the fleet 
dropped anchor in the bay on the south coast of 
Cuba, the Spanish prisoner managed to escape 



THE SEA-KING OF THE WEST INDIES 205 

during the night, jumped overboard, and swam 
for the shore. Then he ran his fleetest through 
the woods and reached Puerto Principe in time to 
give warning of the attack. 

The governor acted promptly. He roused the 
people of the town, commanded them to hide their 
riches, and then help him to throw up defences. 
Freemen and slaves worked side by side, felling 
trees, building barricades, and dragging cannon. 
Ambuscades were scattered through the woods, 
and a strong detachment of men stationed behind 
the breastwork. And when Captain Morgan 
advanced at the head of his company he found 
every passage and avenue to the town thoroughly 
defended. But this did not discourage him ; if 
he could not go through the barricades, he could 
go around them. It was difficult and tedious for 
the pirates to thread their way through the dense 
undergrowth of the forest, but they succeeded in 
doing it. By taking a roundabout way, they 
turned the flank of the defences and came out on 
the great open plain, called the Sheet, which sur- 
rounds the town. 

On reaching the edge of the woods. Captain 
Morgan marshalled his forces, and, with drums 
beating and colors flying, advanced in good march- 
ing order. Then down swept a troop of cavalry, 
charging full speed upon the pirate ranks. The 
governor rode at the head of his horse ; he expected 
to see the oncoming line waver and give way. 



206 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

then turn and flee before the impetuous rush of 
the cavalry. But no ; a quick order, and the 
pirates had formed into a semicircle ; as the troop 
dashed onward, the line opened and surrounded 
them. Swords and cutlasses flashed in the air, 
pistols were fired point-blank, the governor fell, 
severely wounded, riderless horses galloped over 
the plain, and the cavalry troop was disorganized. 
The Spaniards were no match for the pirates in 
the use of short arms; they retreated to the 
woods, and left the field to their enemies. 

On rushed the pirates to the gates of the town ; 
the inhabitants had intrenched themselves, and 
held the robbers at bay for some time. But Mor- 
gan and his men were bulldog fighters and hard 
to resist. Once within the streets they had the 
advantage, for there, if force failed, they could 
win by threats. The alternative of a voluntary 
surrender or the town laid in ashes usually brought 
prompt capitulation. The people of Puerto Prin- 
cipe gave up the fight rather than see their homes 
in flames. 

Then followed the outrages and villanies of a 
band of ruffians, the horrors of pillage, torture, 
and starvation. The people were huddled to- 
gether in the different churches, and left there 
to die of hunger, while the town was ransacked 
from end to end. When the provisions were 
exhausted and there was nothing left to rob, Mor- 
gan arrogantly demanded a double ransom, one 



THE SEA-KmG OF THE WEST INDIES 207 

for the town, to redeem it from fire, and one for the 
people, to avoid wholesale deportation to Jamaica. 

But the prisoners had received stealthy mes- 
sages from the governor of Santiago promising 
aid, and urging them to gain time by every device 
of delays and excuses. One of these messages was 
intercepted by the pirates, and for the next twenty- 
four hours there was a good deal of hurry and 
bustle in the robber camp. Pieces of eight, plate, 
and merchandise were hastily carted to the shore, 
and tumbled into the ships' holds. Lines of 
pirates could be seen hurrying to and fro between 
the bay and the town, bending under clinking 
bags and bales. 

A peremptory order was sent by Captain Mor- 
gan to the Spaniards, giving a day's time, and no 
longer, for the payment of the ransom. But this 
was more bluster than firmness, for when the next 
day came and no money was paid down, the pirate 
chief abated his demands. A hundred head of 
oxen or cows, delivered on board ship, and a load 
of salt, would appease him ; he was beginning to 
think more of meat than of money, and provisions 
were worth more than plate when men were hun- 
gry. The main thing was to make sail before that 
army of relief should arrive. And thus, with un- 
dignified haste, the great Captain Morgan retired 
from Puerto Principe. But we must at least give 
the rogue his due, and praise his good faith in 
giving up the hostages after the last cow had been 



208 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

killed and salted, and his forbearance in not leav- 
ing a lighted match near some pile of rubbish, for 
after all it was a small booty that he was carrying 
away, and the Spaniards had tricked him. 

Great was the disappointment among the avari- 
cious thieves when an account of stock was taken 
and the dividends were declared. The fleet had 
retired to a small island for the ceremony of the 
division of the spoils, and, as the money was 
counted and the goods appraised, the frowns and 
mutterings grew deeper and louder. Only fifty 
thousand pieces of eight, about sixty-three thou- 
sand dollars, as the result of that momentous expe- 
dition ! The cost of fitting out the fleet had been 
heavy ; and after paying the salaries, general 
expenses, and special awards, what would there be 
left to divide between almost seven hundred 
greedy spendthrifts ? Not even enough to pay 
the debts that they had left behind them in 
Jamaica. The feeling of resentment was spread- 
ing into a mutiny. 

But this was not all. There had been a quar- 
rel, a duel, and a base murder between a French- 
man and an Englishman. The Britishers and 
Walloons took sides, and there was a split in the 
crews. The treacherous blow had been dealt by 
an English sailor ; Captain Morgan threw him in 
irons and promised justice in the shape of a sum- 
mary hanging as soon as the fleet touched at 
Jamaica. But harmony was at an end, the two 



THE SEA-KIXG OF THE WEST INDIES 209 

factions could not agree, and the French decided 
to part company. So Captain Morgan returned 
to his headquarters alone with his Englishmen 
and with fewer ships than when he had started. 

Yet such was the personal magnetism of the 
pirate chief, and so great the confidence he in- 
spired, that this half-failure did not destroy his 
prestige. Men still believed in him. His word 
alone could win implicit reliance. His vigor, 
enthusiasm, and stupendous self-assurance were 
contagious, and infused new spirit into his men. 
He must have been a born orator, for all he had 
to do was to talk in his plausible, confident way, 
and his hearers believed every word of his highly 
colored speeches. 

It took only a few days of stump speaking for 
Captain Morgan to gather a following of four 
hundred and sixty fighting men, and a motley 
collection of boats and vessels to the number of 
nine sail. With these he put to sea, keeping 
meanwhile his own counsel, and confiding to no 
one his nefarious plans. The bolder the project 
the more it should be kept in solitary confinement. 
A coup d'etat gains power by secrecy, and discussion 
weakens belief. A dictatorship was better suited 
to Captain Morgan's temperament than a presi- 
dency, and he understood the strength of silence. 
So not until the fleet had sighted Costa Rica did 
he tell his captains of his scheme, and even then 
he did not call a council, but declared his inten- 



210 SEA-WOLVES OF SEYEN^ SHORES 

tions. This was an innovation in pirate laws. 
]\Iorgan had taken the law into his own hands, 
abolished suffrage, smashed the republic, and set 
up the rule of one. 

His assumption of despotism did not rouse great 
opposition. He was going to Porto Bello, he told 
them; the attack would be made by night, and 
every corner of the city sacked. It could not fail 
to succeed, since he had kept it a secret in his own 
mind ; there had been no talk about it, and no 
traitor had been able to announce their coming. 
Some objected that the force was too small to 
assault so strong a city, but Morgan silenced 
them. "If our numbers are small, our hearts are 
great," he said, " and the fewer the men, the big- 
ger the shares." He knew where to touch them, 
on their pride and their greed. And that set- 
tled the matter. To Porto Bello they would go. 

It was a daring enterprise. Porto Bello was 
counted the strongest city in the West Indies 
next to Havana and Cartagena. Two impreg- 
nable castles defended the entrance to the port ; 
no boat could pass unchallenged. Three hundred 
soldiers manned the batteries. And they had 
need to protect the town, for here were the store- 
houses for the riches of Panama, and here the 
mule trains brought the plate that was to be 
shipped in galleons to Spain. Near by were the 
Gulf of Darien, and Nombre de Dios, the old 
haunts of Francis Drake. How these names 



THE SEA-KING OF THE WEST INDIES 211 

bring up the spirit of the great pioneer pirate of 
the West Indies ! 

Every crevice of the coast was known to Mor- 
gan, every road and path and stream. In the 
dusk of the evening he brought his ships to a 
silent bay, west of Porto Bello, where a river 
opened its forked mouth. One by one, like a file 
of ghosts, the ships stole up between the river 
banks, and in the dead of night dropped anchor 
in a quiet river harbor. Here the men slipped 
silently into their small boats and canoes and pad- 
dled up-stream. Only a few were left to hold 
the ships and carry them down river. By mid- 
night the attacking party had reached a landing 
where they left their canoes and went ashore. 
From there Morgan marched his men through the 
woods till they came within sight of the city out- 
posts. Then he called a halt. 

A small party was sent ahead to seize the sentry, 
and he was used as information bureau and spokes- 
man. Next, Morgan drew a close cordon around 
the castle and demanded its immediate surrender ; 
resist, and there would be no quarter, so said the 
despot, and this time he meant to keep his word. 
The only answer was a volley of shot. The castle 
guns alarmed the city, and now all was astir. 

The Spaniards started out with their usual 
pluck. They never gave in easily ; they fought 
bravely and stoutly, but somehow they almost 
always gave in before the end. They rarely sue- 



212 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

ceeded in keeping their stand against the pirates ; 
they were not so well trained, not so skilful, not 
such good marksmen, and they had not the ruf- 
fians' tough endurance. After a sturdy resistance 
the castle hung out a white flag, and the pirates 
walked in. Morgan thought to strike terror to 
the city by making an example of these obstinate 
Spaniards, and carrying out his threat of '^ no quar- 
ter." But it would take long to put each one to 
the sword, so he devised a more fiendish plan. 
The Spanish officers and soldiers were shut up in 
one of the rooms of the castle, the powder maga- 
zine was set on fire, and the whole structure was 
blown into the air. 

" This being done, they pursued the course 
of their victory," writes Exquemeling, with com- 
placency. The swift and wholesale method of 
destruction probably appealed to him as clever 
and practical. But although the pirate historian 
became inured to the savage practices of war, he 
shows a strong feeling of horror and disapproval 
when speaking of the tortures and other brutal 
customs of his pirate brethren. 

So the pirates pursued their course and entered 
the city. There all was confusion and disorder. 
Men and women hurried here and there, possessed 
by the one idea of saving their riches ; gold and 
jewels were thrown into wells and cisterns ; holes 
were dug in the ground and treasures buried deep 
under the earth. The people seemed to give no 



THE SEA-KIXG OF THE WEST INDIES 213 

thought to defending their homes or their city, 
and the governor made fruitless efforts to rally 
the citizens. Seeing that it was hopeless to expect 
any help from people half crazed with fear, he 
retired to one of the castles and opened fire on the 
pirates. This governor of Porto Bello was a man 
of invincible spirit ; win or die, was his motto, 
and he gave the freebooters a very uncomfortable 
half-dav. 

Fast and furious came the firing from the castle. 
The governor had shut himself up there to fight 
to the death, and from break of day till noon he 
held the fort unwaveringly. Time after time the 
attacking parties were driven back, and after hours 
of fighting no advance had been made. Every 
known device was brought into use, fireballs were 
thrown at the castle doors, but every new attempt 
was met and defeated. Stones, earthen pots 
full of powder, and every kind of combustibles 
were dropped by the besieged over the castle 
walls. 

It was a test for Captain Morgan ; he was 
determined not to give up, yet he had never been 
in such a difficult position. The stubborn defence 
of the Spaniards was ruining his whole enterprise, 
and he began to despair of success. ^' Hereupon." 
writes Exquemeling, '• many faint and calm medi- 
tations came into his mind." We may be allowed 
to doubt whether they were either ''faint" or 
" calm," whatever his external demeanor was, but 



214 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

at all events they were deep and crafty. The 
result of these cogitations was original, and showed 
a power of invention and an irony truly demoniac. 
Undoubtedly the devil thought it a very witty 
and ingenious device. 

The pirates seemed always to have a special 
attraction toward monks and nuns. One of the 
first things they did on capturing a town was to 
rush to the convents or monasteries and make 
prisoners of these peaceful and benevolent people. 
This had happened at Porto Bello, where scores of 
the sisters and brothers of the religious orders had 
been seized early in the day. And now it entered 
Captain Morgan's fertile brain to put these inno- 
cent people to his own use. He ordered a dozen i 
large ladders to be knocked together in great haste ; 
they were to be broad enough for four men to ] 
mount abreast, and high enough to reach the top | 
of the fortifications. i 

Then he commanded the monks and nuns to \ 

carry them under the castle and stand them up ; 

against the walls, and at the point of the sword j 

they were forced to do his bidding. Morgan j 

thought that the governor would not fire on his I 

defenceless religious brethren, but he had not ! 

counted on the Spartan resolve of his opponent. ] 

Stones and shot fell on the unprotected heads of i 

those who bore the ladders ; they were caught j 

between the upper and the nether millstones, for | 

if they retreated, they were received by the pirates j 



THE SEA-KIXG OF THE WEST IXDIES 215 

at the pistol's muzzle, and if they advanced, they 
were shot down by the besieged. 

At last the pitiful work was accomplished. 
Many of the ladder bearers lay dead upon the 
ground, and the pirates rushed over their bodies. 
Like so many tigers they scaled the walls, cutlass 
and fireballs in hand. The Spaniards were power- 
less before the fierce assault ; men threw down 
their arms and begged for quarter. The governor 
alone would not ask for mercy. He stood there 
like a wrathful avenger, dealing blows to any who 
came near him, cutting down some of his own 
soldiers because they did not stand to their arms. 
When asked if he would have quarter, he cried, 
" Never ; I had rather die as a valiant soldier 
than be hanged as a coward I *' And so he did die, 
riddled ^^.th wounds, stubborn in his valor to the 
end. 

The last hope of the city had fallen, and Morgan 
was master of the place. For two weeks Porto 
Bello was given over to plunder and feasting, 
while the inhabitants were packed into the castle 
and kept under a strong guard. Then, when the 
pirate chief began to think of leaving, he sent in 
his claim for a hundred thousand pieces of eight 
as ransom.' A few hours later a messenger was 
seen galloping over the road to Panama. Urgent 
prayers of help went to the president. A body of 
soldiers was sent to the relief of the prisoners, but 
was met by the pirates in a narrow defile and 



J 

216 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 1 

utterly routed. And after a bootless threat of 

vengeance, the president of Panama left the Porto j 

Bellians to their own salvation. l 

While the ransom was being collected and paid, I 

a complimentary passage at arms took place be- i 

tween the president and Morgan. How had four j 

hundred men, without cannon, and nothing but ! 

their small arms, captured the strongly fortified i 
city of Porto Bello ? This was what puzzled the 

Spanish president, and roused both his curiosity i 

and admiration. Being a man of an inquiring j 

turn of mind, he sent a deputy to the pirate com- , 

mander, and asked him, with his compliments, if I 

he would favor him with the loan of one of the i 

arms that conquered Porto Bello. I 

The ambassador was received with courteous j 
and extreme politeness, and Morgan gave him a 
pistol with a few small bullets to carry back to his 
master, and a polite message begging the president 
" to accept that slender pattern of the arms where- 
with he had taken Porto Bello, and keep them for 

a twelvemonth ; after which time he promised to ' 

come to Panama and fetch them away." \ 

The president of Panama found that he had \ 

landed himself in trouble, and that Captain Morgan \ 
had been over-polite. Hastily he returned the 
weapon with his best thanks and the gift of a gold 
ring, begging his adversary not to trouble himself 

to call at Panama, as his reception would not be so i 

much to his liking as it had been at Porto Bella. I 



cj O- 



THE SEA-KING OF THE WEST INDIES 

There is no record of Morgan's having answered 
this last message. He intended to have the final 
word, but waited until he could deliver it from the 
muzzle of his pistol. 

After this pleasant episode, Captain Morgan set 
sail with all his ships for the island of Cuba, where 
in " quiet and repose " he made a division of the 
spoils. It was a magnificent treasure — jewels, 
silks, linen, cloth, and two hundred and fifty 
thousand pieces of eight. There were no grum- 
blings heard when the new trust company declared 
its dividends. 



CHAPTER XIX 

THE WONDERFUL EXPLOITS OF CAPTAIN 
MORGAN 

The name of Captain Morgan had become famous 
throughout the West Indies. He had but to an- 
nounce an expedition for ships and sailors to come 
crowding to the meeting-place. Motley assort- 
ments of boats and vessels, large and small, of 
men of many tongues, hurried from Tortuga, 
Hayti, and Jamaica. It was at Cow Island that 
a gathering had been called for a new venture. 
The captains were all there, almost the whole fleet 
had assembled, when a smart thirty -six-gun ship 
sailed jauntily into port. She was a contribution 
from the governor of Jamaica, freshly arrived from 
English shores, and despatched with speed to his 
dear friend Captain Morgan. 

Queen Elizabeth had long before set the fashion 
for the patronage of piracy. She had been most 
successful in privately helping what she publicly 
disowned. But the official representatives of Eng- 
land in the distant Caribbean Sea had no need of 
subterfuges. They frankly encouraged a business 
that brought in so much wealth, for the pirates 

218 



EXPLOITS OF CAPTAIN MORGAN 219 

threw away in Jamaica what they had stolen on 
the Spanish main. It was all profit and no loss to 
the trade. 

The arrival of this dapper thirty-six turned the 
vain head of Captain Morgan. He began to think 
that he was omnipotent, and that he had but to 
desire a thing for it to be laid at his feet. Not 
content with one strong ship he wanted more, and 
he now turned his covetous eyes upon another 
thirty-six-gun vessel, belonging to the French, 
that lay at anchor close to his moorings. But this 
time blandishments were of no avail, and although 
he exerted his whole store of plausible and persua- 
sive powers, he failed to win his point. The 
French captain flatly refused to join the expedition. 

The grudge between the English and the French 
had been accumulating fuel and was ready to burst 
into flames at the touch of a match. Captain 
Morgan laid the fuse. He resented the refusal of 
the French captain to join forces with him, and 
resolved to be revenged. Inviting the French 
commander and several of his officers to dine with 
him on board his new English ship, he ordered 
them to be seized and made prisoners as soon as 
they had set foot on deck. Little did he think 
that a tragedy was to follow in swift retribution. 

Being very well satisfied with himself, Morgan 
called a meeting and settled on the goal of the ex- 
pedition. This time it was to be the island of 
Savona, where the pirates were to lie in waiting for 



220 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

the Spanish merchant fleet that was expected to pass 
that way. Elated at the prospect of new plunder, 
the jolly freebooters gave themselves up to rejoic- 
ings. They fired guns and drank toasts, until the 
whole ship's company were in a state of helpless 
hilarit3^ Not a man who was not drunk, except- 
ing the French prisoners. 

Suddenly a rending noise, a terrific explosion, 
and the whole ship, with three hundred and fifty 
Englishmen on board, was blown into the air. 
Morgan and his officers, about thirty men in all, 
were in the main cabin, at some distance from the 
powder magazine, and they alone were saved. 
Dismay and consternation filled the rest of the 
fleet. The French prisoners were suspected of 
having destroyed the ship and themselves with 
it out of revenge, and the feud between the two 
nations increased. Morgan seized the French ves- 
sel in the ofiing and sent it to Jamaica, and the 
French were authorized to cruise on English 
pirates wherever they found them. 

At last the filibustering fleet set sail ; fifteen 
vessels and almost a thousand men. But Captain 
Morgan was forced to run up his flag on a small 
fourteen-gun ship, instead of a gallant thirty-six. 
Heading for the island of Savona, the fleet ran 
into contrary winds which scattered the vessels 
and delayed them for several weeks. After many 
vicissitudes, interspersed with raids on shore for 
provisions and water. Captain Morgan reached the 



EXPLOITS OF CAPTAm MORGAN 221 

rendezvous with only eight small ships and five 
hundred men. Anxiously he scanned the horizon, 
watching with growing concern and impatience 
for any sign of the missing sail. But the empty 
stretch of water gave him no comfort. Day after 
day passed and still no sign of the stragglers, and, 
tired of waiting, Morgan decided to try his luck 
without them. 

One of his captains, a former follower of L'Ol- 
lonois, suggested Maracaibo as a fertile field for 
plunder. He was familiar with every entrance 
and approach to the city and could guide the 
party in safety to the inner harbor. Morgan 
approved of the scheme, and the squadron set sail. 
As he approached the coast of South America, he 
made the runs by night, and moored his ships by 
day in some hidden bay in the neighboring islands. 
The last run brought him to the bar of Maracaibo 
lake, and at break of day the Spaniards awoke to 
see a squadron of pirate ships under their guns. 

Since L'OUonois had paid his memorable visit, 
a new fort had been built at the entrance, and the 
battery of sixteen heavy guns now let fly shot and 
shell in a warm welcome. This was an unex- 
pected reception, but Morgan answered fire, and 
a spirited contest was kept up until nightfall. 
Under shelter of the darkness the pirates crept 
close alongshore, landed below the fort, and cau- 
tiously approached. Not a sound or a sign came 
from the Spaniards ; the place was deserted, but 



222 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

a trap had been left behind. This sudden flight, 
without apparent cause, roused the suspicions of 
the wily pirate chief ; treachery seemed to lurk 
in the stillness. He ordered the fort to be care- 
fully examined, and beside a train of powder was 
found a slow-match burning steadily to their 
destruction. A few minutes later and the fortress 
with the whole gang of pirates would have been 
blown into atoms. 

Instead of this well-deserved death and a short- 
ened career, Morgan had the luck to find a large 
store of powder, bullets, and muskets to replen- 
ish his stock. On the following day the ships 
crossed the bar, but the waters of the lake were 
low, and the large sandbank at the entrance lay 
uncovered along its whole length. The pirates 
were forced to take to their boats and canoes, with 
only their small arms for defence. But they had 
nothing to fear from the Spaniards ; the people 
had fled as from the pestilence. Forts were aban- 
doned, the streets empty, and the entire city left 
undefended. 

Morgan walked unhindered into Maracaibo, 
and established himself in state for one of his 
orgies of plunder and cruelty. Parties were sent 
into the woods to capture the Spaniards who had 
fled there for security, and these unfortunates 
were put to the rack to make them disclose the 
hiding-places of their riches. The tortures inflicted 
by the pirates were no worse than those practised 



EXPLOITS OF C APT Am MORGAN 223 

by the Inquisition, but they had not the merit of 
even religious bigotry for their motive ; nothing 
more than inhuman greed, and an inherited race 
hatred. 

The countless successes and atrocities of the 
pirates inspired whole communities with such 
terror and unreasoning fear that they fled before 
them in a mass. They seized what treasures they 
could carry, and stampeded to the woods. But 
their devices to hide themselves and their goods 
were of little use, for the indefatigable pirates 
rarely failed to discover them. When Morgan 
moved on from Maracaibo to Gibraltar, as L'Ollo- 
nois had done before him, he found an abandoned 
city, of which he took possession without delay. 

The governor had fled for refuge to the top of 
a steep and almost inaccessible mountain, and for 
once led the pirates on a fool's chase to find 
him. For two weeks they waded through water 
waist-deep, crossed swollen rivers, dragged them- 
selves painfully through bogs and swamps. 
Heavy rains drenched them and soaked their 
powder and baggage, and they finally returned to 
Gibraltar without the governor. After this ex- 
perience their spirits were somewhat dampened, 
and they decided to return to Maracaibo. But 
here a new mishap awaited them. 

Consternation and despair filled Captain Morgan 
and his followers at the news that greeted them 
in Maracaibo, Three Spanish men-of-war guarded 



224 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

the narrow exit of the lake ! The largest carried 
forty guns, and the smallest no less than twenty- 
four. A boat sent out to reconnoitre confirmed 
the report. Here was the arch pirate caught in a 
trap, with no way out by sea or land, and com- 
pletely overpowered in strength, for his largest 
ship was mounted with only fourteen small guns. 
AH hope of escape seemed vain, and Morgan's 
first feeling was to give himself up for lost. But 
something must be done, and the necessity for 
action brought back his courage. 

With his usual bold insolence he sent a deputy 
to the Spanish admiral demanding a heavy ransom 
for the town of Maracaibo. The answer was an 
elaborate official letter from Don Alonzo del 
Campo y Espinosa, admiral of the Spanish fleet, 
to Captain Morgan, commander of the pirates. 

The admiral demanded the full surrender of all 
the plundered goods ; on this condition the pirates 
would be allowed to depart, otherwise they would 
be exterminated. The pirates in a body indig- 
nantly refused the demand ; rather than give up 
what they had so hardly won, they would fight to 
the last drop of blood in their bodies. Although 
the freebooters were determined to fight, Morgan 
still used evasions. He offered to spare Mara- 
caibo without ransom, and set at liberty all his 
prisoners and hostages. But the admiral was 
obdurate. 

The pirates now brought into play all their in- 



EXPLOITS OF CAPTAIN MORGAN 225 

genuity. They had never been in such need of it 
before. A general council was called for delibera- 
tion; every one was asked to make suggestions, 
and the cleverest proposition came, not from Mor- 
gan and his captains, but from one of the seamen. 
" I will undertake to destroy the biggest of those 
vessels with only twelve men," he declared, and 
the way he intended to do it was with a counter- 
feit ship, mounted with counterfeit cannon, and 
manned by counterfeit men, and this sham ship 
was to be a fire-ship. 

It was a device just after the marauders' hearts, 
and they made their preparations for it with huge 
enjoyment. A vessel, which they had captured 
up Gibraltar River, was covered with pitch, tar, 
and brimstone ; great logs smeared with tar were 
placed in the ports, and under each of these 
sham guns was piled a heap of powder. Next, 
the pirates took shorter logs of wood, dressed 
them in mens' clothes, with hats or Montera 
caps on their heads, and armed them with swords, 
muskets, and cutlasses in ferocious guise. These 
were set up and fastened firmly on deck in a most 
formidable array and in studied variety of pose. 
Then English colors were hoisted at the masthead, 
and the sham ship looked like a veritable man-of- 
war. 

When all was ready, and the men had taken 
their oath to fight to the death, the little pirate 
fleet weighed anchor. The prisoners had been 



226 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

packed into one of the boats ; in another had 
been stored the plate and jewels ; and still another 
held the bales of merchandise; each boat being 
defended by twelve men. In advance went the 
fire-ship, leading the way in pomp. The Spanish 
men-of-war rode at anchor in the middle of the 
entrance to the lake. On came the puny pirate 
boats until almost within gunshot ; then they 
dropped anchor for the night, keeping vigilant 
watch on the enemy. 

At dawn of day, Morgan steered straight for 
the Spanish squadron. The disguised fire-ship 
ran alongside the large man-of-war and grappled 
her. The Spaniards despised the little foe and 
thought to make her an easy prey ; too late they 
discovered their mistake. All their frantic efforts 
could not release them from the deadly embrace. 
The mock battle ship was fired ; in an instant the 
two, locked tightly together, were in a sea of 
flame. The tongues of fire wrapped the timber, 
and leaped up the masts ; the whole stern was a 
molten mass, and the prow, pitching into the 
water, sank to the bottom. 

Panic seized the Spaniards at the loss of the 
gallant flag-ship. The second vessel took to her 
heels and fled toward the shore, under the lee of 
the castle, and there she was scuttled by her crew 
and sank midway on the sands. But the shallow 
water left her half uncovered, and to complete her 
destruction the Spaniards set fire to the half- 



EXPLOITS OF CAPTAm MORGAN 227 

drowned halk. Deserted by her consort, the third 
vessel was easily seized, and the pirates scored a 
complete victory. 

But their way to the sea was not yet clear, for 
they must run the gauntlet of the outer castle. 
The Spanish admiral had escaped from his burn- 
ing ship, and was preparing to pour his shot into 
the pirate cockleshells, as they passed through the 
narrow channel. Again it was brains and not 
brawn that must save the trapped buccaneers. As 
usual Captain Morgan began his machinations by 
insolent demands. He called for an exorbitant 
fire insurance from the town of Maracaibo. The 
people had learned that Morgan's threats were not 
empty words, and they paid their twenty thousand 
pieces of eight, and five hundred cattle, without a 
murmur. 

Meanwhile, divers had been at work among the 
wreckage of the Spanish ship that had gone to 
the bottom, and rich booty was recovered ; plate 
and valuables, and many thousand pieces of eight. 
The entire plunder amounted to two hundred and 
fifty thousand pieces of eight in money and jewels, 
besides a great quantity of merchandise and slaves. 
Captain Morgan had no intention of risking this 
fortune to the chances of storm and battle, or the 
dishonesty of his captains, for the bulk of it lay 
in one of the smaller vessels. So he called a gen- 
eral meeting, and there, between the walls of the 
town and the guns of the castle, hemmed in be- 



228 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

tween two enemies and in the very jaws of destruc- 
tion, the pirates divided the spoils. With as much 
deliberation as if they were hidden on an ocean 
island, they counted their money and valued their 
jewels, discussing the merits of rubies and dia- 
monds, and testing the texture of velvets and 
silks. Every man received his share, and the 
glittering riches, for which they had fought and 
murdered and burned, were distributed among 
the different ships and boats. 

Now all was ready for a trial. Captain Morgan 
had refused to give up his prisoners until he was 
safely out to sea, hoping to save himself through 
them. He now threatened to hang them all on 
the yardarm or throw them with stones around 
their necks into the lake, unless they obtained 
from the governor free passage for his squadron. 
The frightened prisoners sent a deputation to the 
castle, imploring Don Alonzo's mercy, and begging 
their miserable lives at the cost of an open exit for 
the foe. But the gallant admiral was firm. No 
supplications could turn him from his duty. 
Whether the prisoners hung or not, or were 
mowed down by his own shot, he would sink every 
pirate boat that passed his batteries. 

The Spanish admiral was brave, but his adver- 
sary was cunning. If one stratagem failed, an- 
other would succeed. Captain Morgan ordered 
his men to embark in their canoes and row toward 
the shore. From morning till night canoes filled 



EXPLOITS OF CAPTAIN MORGAN 229 

with men left the pirate ships, and returned empty 
for another load. Almost the whole of the crews 
must have been landed by night-time ; or so it 
seemed to the watchers in the castle, and this was 
what they were meant to think. But not a man 
went ashore ; every return trip brought back the 
same number of men, lying flat in the bottom 
of the boats. It was a clever trick, and all day 
the farce of a false landing went on. 

The Spaniards, meanwhile, prepared for a land 
attack from the rear. The guns were dragged 
across to the side away from the water, and the 
larger part of the garrison was stationed to re- 
ceive the storming party. When darkness had 
shut down upon the lake and the land. Captain 
Morgan gave whispered orders. Anchors were 
weighed in silence. Without a sail set, the pirate- 
ships drifted stealthily out on the ebb-tide. Softly 
they slipped down the channel to the very foot of 
the fortress walls. Suddenly there was a cry of 
alarm within the castle, and a rushing and hurry- 
ing to and fro ; guns were dragged frantically 
back, men ran in confusion to the front. But it 
was too late. The pirates had hoisted sail, and 
under a press of canvas and a fair wind were fly- 
ing out to sea. 

When out of gunshot. Captain Morgan sent 
back the prisoners, and then, with a parting salute 
of seven guns fired in scorn and derision, the pirate 
fleet spread northward for Jamaica. 



CHAPTER XX 
SOUTHWARD HO, TO PANAMA! 

More and more ambitious grew the designs of 
the great corsair chief. As success followed him 
and Dame Fortune treated him as her favorite son, 
Morgan's thoughts of conquest took on the shape, 
not of piracy, but of invasion. Already he was 
planning an expedition to eclipse all previous 
ones. Letters were sent out to the governor of 
Tortuga, to every able and noted pirate, to the 
hunters and planters of Hayti. It was a rally 
call, a summons to the meet. 

Men flocked from all sides ; boats, ships, and 
canoes arrived in eager haste and in motley array ; 
rough hunters tramped through the woods to 
gather at the meeting-place. A large fleet had 
assembled at the Tortuga port when Captain 
Morgan sailed in with colors flying and drums 
beating. The first care was to send a detachment 
of four ships in search of maize and corn, and 
another party of hunters to the woods to kill wild 
oxen and swine. The rest of the crews were kept 
busy cleaning, fitting, and rigging the vessels. 
When the provisions had been gathered, the fleet 
was ready to put to sea. ' 

230 



SOUTHWARD HO, TO PANAMA I 231 

It was a smart little flock of sail that weighed 
anchor in the middle of December, 1670 : thirty- 
seven vessels, with two thousand fighting men, 
besides the sailors and boys. The admiral's ship 
mounted twenty-two heavy guns, and six smaller 
ones ; the other vessels carried all the way from 
four to twenty guns, and were well provided with 
fire-balls and ammunition of all kinds. Morgan 
divided the fleet into two squadrons, appointed a 
vice-admiral and other oflScers, and then in full 
meeting drew up the articles of agreement. 

The pirate king was not wanting in greed. He 
arranged to have a hundredth part of all the 
plunder. There was a boom on the market ; stock 
was up, extra dividends were declared ; the receipts 
were expected to be large, and heavy premiums 
were placed on arms and legs. Prices had never 
been known to run so high on the pirate stock- 
exchange. 

Southward ho, to Panama ! This was the unan- 
imous cry of the captains. To the golden treas- 
ure house of the Spanish Main ! Morgan had 
given them their choice between Cartagena, Pan- 
ama, and Vera Cruz. But there was no hesita- 
tion in casting the lot on the richest city of the 
continent. 

The first step was to attack the small island of 
St. Catharine, which was a sort of convict station 
for the outlaws from Panama. There Morgan 
expected to provide himself with guides who 



232 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

would lead his army across the difficult passes 
of the isthmus. The island was strongly girded 
by nine forts ; the batteries were mounted with 
fifty-three guns, and there were ample stores of 
muskets and ammunition. The large fortress of 
Santa Teresa was a well-built castle, surrounded 
by a moat and by the surf -beaten rocks. With 
a strong garrison the island would have been im- 
pregnable, but there were less than two hundred 
soldiers within its walls, and the governor was 
a timid-hearted man, without the pluck to lead 
a forlorn hope. 

On the first summons from Captain Morgan, 
the governor consented to surrender the island 
on condition that his own credit and that of his 
officers should be saved by making use of a strat- 
agem of war. There was to be a mock assault by 
sea and land answered by a mock defence. The 
guns of the castle and the ships were to keep up a 
lively fire, but without shot. The governor was 
to be trapped and made prisoner after a lusty show 
of resistance. 

The ingenious trick appealed to the pirate's 
cunning, and Captain Morgan agreed to carry 
out the plan. The farce was gone through, the 
sham battle was fought with a great deal of smoke 
and no shot, the castle was treacherously taken 
with a big display of force, and the island fell 
into the hands of the pirates. We do not hear 
what became of the governor. It is to be hoped 



SOUTHWARD HO, TO PANAMA! 233 

he was courtmartialed and shot if the pirates 
spared him. 

Morgan found a vicious rogue and thief among 
the garrison, who well served his purpose as a 
guide, and he hired him to lead the way to Pan- 
ama. But, before pressing on across the isthmus, 
it was necessary to capture the castle of Chagres, 
which stood on the northern coast in the direct 
line of approach. For this service Morgan de- 
spatched four ships and a small boat, so as not 
to arouse the alarm and suspicion of the people 
by the sudden appearance of his entire fleet. 

To judge by the description of the castle given 
by Exquemeling, the pirate historian, Chagres 
must have been one of the most impregnable for- 
tresses of the time. Perched on the summit of 
a high hill, surrounded by walls, palisades, and 
ditches, defended by bastions, breastworks, and 
batteries, reached only by a steep stairway cut 
in the rock and a drawbridge across the moat — 
what assailants could reach and much less capture 
so inaccessible a stronghold? One would think 
that none but an army of balloonists, with an 
outfit of twentieth-century electric, aerial guns, 
could storm and conquer this eagle's citadel. 

That the pirates took Chagres is certain, but the 
way in which they took it rests solely on the ve- 
racity of Exquemeling. However, as he was there, 
he must have known, and this is his account of the 
affair. 



234 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

The pirates anchored in the small port, landed 
under a murderous fire, and marched through the 
woods to the foot of the castle rock. With sword 
in one hand and fire-balls in the other, they stoutly- 
tried to scale the walls. But the deadly fire from 
the fortress guns mowed them down with pitiless 
precision. Time after time they rushed to the 
attack ; again and again they were driven back. 

Then, according to Exquemeling, there happened 
a very remarkable accident, at the moment when 
victory seemed hopeless. One of the pirates was 
wounded in the back with an arrow that pierced 
him through the body from side to side. But being 
a man of great valor, he coolly pulled out the arrow, 
wrapped some cotton around the end, and, fitting 
it into his musket, fired it back into the castle. 
The result was amazing. The cotton on the ar- 
row was kindled by the powder, the arrow fell on 
some thatched roofs within the castle enclosure, 
the houses caught on fire, and the flames spread 
to the powder magazine, which exploded, and all 
this happened in a few moments without any 
apparent cause. 

At the same time the pirates set fire to the pali- 
sades, and in the general confusion succeeded in 
making several breaches in the wall. After some 
brisk fighting the governor retired to an inner 
fort, but a well-aimed shot pierced his head and 
he fell dead. The garrison then surrendered ; 
there were not many left, only twenty able men 



SOUTHWARD HO, TO PANAMA! 235 

out of three hundred aud fourteen. In point of 
figures we must make some allowance for the 
enthusiasm of the pirate historian. 

Chagres taken, the way was open to Panama. 
But Panama had been warned, the garrison 
strengthened, ambuscades laid on the way, and 
an army more than three thousand strong was 
waiting to receive the invaders. To attack this 
large body of troops and a well-fortified city. 
Captain Morgan set out toward the middle of 
January, 1671, at the head of twelve hundred 
men, five boatloads of artillery, and thirty-two 
guns. 

The journey to Panama was long and difficult. 
Sometimes by land and sometimes by the river 
they made their way laboriously through tangles, 
marshes, and shallows. Hunger began to do its 
work, and when they came to a deserted ambus- 
cade and found no food, they fell upon some 
empty leather bags and devoured them greedily. 
In vain they scoured the woods in search of some- 
thing to eat ; nothing but leaves, and grass, and 
herbs were left to keep them from starvation. 
At last they came upon some maize which they 
ate dry, so eager were they for food. 

The hardships of that journey tried even the 
herculean powers of the veteran adventurers. 
Murmurings were heard and threats of revolt. 
Sickness, too, broke out, and discontent was rife. 
For nine days they had marched through barren 



236 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

lands and deserted fields under the scorching 
sun or the torrents of tropical storms. At last, 
toward the close of the ninth day, they came upon 
a large drove of cattle in a deep valley. The 
first thing was to kill the oxen and asses, make 
fires, roast the meat, and eat the first straight 
meal they had tasted since they left Chagres. 
That same evening they came within sight of the 
highest steeple of Panama. 

When the pirates saw that the goal of all their 
efforts and desires had been reached, they leaped 
and shouted for joy, and, reckless of being heard 
and discovered, they blew their trumpets and 
beat their drums in exultation. Then they biv- 
ouacked for the night, and slept the sound sleep 
of fatigue and content. 

Early on the morning of the tenth day Captain 
Morgan marshalled his forces and advanced to 
the sound of drum and trumpet. Persuaded by 
his guides to take a roundabout road, he skirted 
through the woods to avoid the batteries of the 
town. On reaching the top of a low hill the 
pirates saw, stretched out on the plain before 
them, the whole force of Spanish cavalry and 
infantry, a contingent of Indians and negroes, 
and two thousand wild bulls. 

At the first sight of this formidable line of 
battle, a quaver of alarm and dismay ran through 
the pirate ranks. They wished themselves well 
out of this hair-brained venture and safely at 



SOUTHWARD HO, TO PANAMA! 237 

home in Jamaica. However, the inevitable had 
to be faced, and they decided to meet it with a 
brave front : no quarter ; victory or death. On 
they went, down the hill, straight into the ranks 
of the enemy. In advance marched Morgan's 
two hundred sharp-shooters, and when they came 
within musket-shot, they dropped on one knee 
and fired a terrible volley. 

The ground was swampy, and the Spanish cav- 
alry could not wheel and charge ; the bulls were 
let loose, but, instead of dashing into the pirate 
ranks, they were frightened by the noise of battle, 
and took to their heels in a wild stampede of flight. 
The Spanish foot alone were left to bear the brunt 
of the struggle. For two hours they kept up a 
brave fight ; at the end of that time they saw that 
the day was lost and, throwing down their mus- 
kets, fled in every direction. 

The pirates were masters of the field. But an- 
other contest was before them at the city gates. 
The Spaniards let fly an incessant rain of shot ; 
pieces of iron, musket bullets, everything they 
could lay their hands on, poured forth from the 
mouths of their guns. The pirates fell by the 
score. Still they persevered, and at the end of 
three hours the city was theirs. 

The burning and sacking of Panama by Captain 
Morgan and his horde of barbarians was remem- 
bered for many long years. For three weeks the 
city was given over to plunderings and raids ; the 



238 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

neighboring country was ransacked ; ransoms were 
extorted and a fabulous booty amassed. This 
done, Captain Morgan collected his men and or- 
dered a retreat to Chagres. The unhappy city 
was left in ashes, and the pirates went their way. 
The capture of Panama was a remarkable military 
feat, and has been looked upon with pride by some 
British historians. They claim for Morgan a place 
among the great leaders, and dignify his piracy by 
the name of privateering ; but if he fought under 
commissions, they were more than irregular. 

When the pirate army reached Chagres and 
started on a division of the spoils, the enormous 
booty seemed to dwindle down to nothing. Only 
two hundred pieces of eight per head was the 
share of the common pirates. Morgan was sus- 
pected and accused of treachery and double-deal- 
ing. It was thought that he and some of the 
other officers had secreted the most costly jewels 
and the gold. Already the men had been irritated 
by a close personal search ; even their clothes, to 
the soles of their shoes, had been examined. To 
this insult was now added a huge swindle. They 
were being defrauded of their rights. Their blood 
had been spilled only to add to the hoard of Mor- 
gan and his officers. 

Loud were the complaints among the men. 
They accused their leader to his face, charging 
him with deceit and fraud. So strong, in fact, 
became the opposition, especially among the 



SOUTHWARD HO, TO PANAMA! 239 

French pirates, that Morgan began to fear for 
his life. Secretly, in the night, he had his ship 
armed and victualled. He carried on board all 
his treasure, and then, without a word, slipped 
anchor in the darkness, and sped away to Jamaica 
as fast as his sails could carry him. 

When his followers, whom he had left in the 
lurch, discovered his flight, they were furious. 
They could not follow in pursuit, for their ships 
were foul and unfit for sailing, and provisions 
were scarce. So they separated into small com- 
panies, and sought their fortunes as best they 
could. 

Meanwhile the treacherous Morgan returned to 
Jamaica to enjoy his ill-gotten wealth and to in- 
gratiate himself with the governor. This was not 
difficult, for Sir Thomas Modyford had been a 
stanch supporter of piracy throughout his rule, 
and was only too ready to befriend so powerful 
and distinguished a figure as the sea-king of the 
West Indies. Captain Morgan was, besides, con- 
nected in a certain way with the gubernatorial 
office; for his uncle. Colonel Edward Morgan, had 
sat in the chief executive's chair only five years 
before. 

But rumors of the ambiguous doings in Jamai- 
can high circles were beginning to reach the ears 
of the government in England ; Governor Mody- 
ford was called home to give an account of his 
piratical sympathies, and Henry Morgan followed 



240 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

him in 1672 to answer serious charges. The 
result of the investigation seems, however, to 
have satisfied the king, for, instead of being flung 
into lifelong disgrace, Morgan was soon raised 
high in the favor and confidence of his royal 
master. 

Three years later the pirate and freebooter was 
knighted, and commissioned as Colonel Henry 
Morgan to the lieutenant-governorship of Jamaica. 
The king laid particular stress on Sir Henry's 
" long experience of that colony," and in this he 
was correct. 

Colonel Morgan set sail, in 1674, for the scenes 
of his wild and lawless piracies, and spent the rest 
of his life in Jamaica as a man of wealth and in- 
fluence. Not only was he lieutenant-governor of 
the colony, but also senior member of the council, 
commander-in-chief of the forces, and at one time 
acting governor. He was certainly a man of great 
talent ! 



CHAPTER XXI 
A PAIR OF LITERARY PIRATES 

It would be unjust and unappreciative to write 
an account of West Indian buccaneers, and not 
include one who is closely linked to tbeir fame. 
There are very few modern inventions that were 
not invented long ago, to be paradoxical. For 
instance, the war correspondent, in whom the 
newspapers of the twentieth century take so much 
pride, existed almost four hundred years ago. 
The scientific traveller who ferrets out unknown 
lands and takes notes on the manners and morals, 
the fauna and flora of peculiar peoples and places ; 
the historian who writes up a subject from per- 
sonal experience, — all these were combined in the 
person of the great Exquemeling. 

Had it not been for him, we should have known 
very little about the early buccaneers of the Car- 
ibbean sea. And we can rely, too, upon the accu- 
racy of his statements, because he was there and 
saw it all ; he was one of them. It is true that 
he felt obliged to resign from the society and put 
the ocean between himself and his former brothers 
before he felt secure in publishing his history. 

241 



242 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

But this has been done since. Crime and abuses 
have been shown up by ex-members, and true his- 
tories have been written by former accomplices. 

It may even be suspected that Exquemeling 
turned temporary pirate for the purpose of writing 
a book, else why should he have taken such copious 
notes ? Nothing so exciting or harebrained is done 
in that line in these days, and it would be almost 
a little disappointing to think that a Dutchman, 
more than three centuries and a half ago, had 
been a precursor of the modern, up-to-date in- 
vestigator. 

Exquemeling was in fact a true student of 
sociology, and he was besides a socialist, for the 
societies of pirates were communistic organiza- 
tions. So, for all these reasons, we ought to be 
especially interested in him. He was a modest 
man, making no display of himself, and there is 
only one sentence in his book to show that he 
held any high opinion of his mental abilities. He 
writes that in describing the famous actions and 
exploits of the greatest pirates of his time he will 
endeavor to do so without the least note of pas- 
sion or partiality, "yea, with that candor which 
is peculiar both to my mind and style," he adds 
with winning simplicity. He is, indeed, so in- 
genuous that he is captivating and delightful. 
His easy credibility makes him enjoy life and find 
it most entertaining, and we cannot help being 
entertained with him. 



A PAIR OF LITERARY PIRATES 243 

Exquemeling lias written a history of the Buc- 
caneers of America of about a hundred thousand 
words in length, containing the blood-curdling and 
marvellous exploits of the most noted pirates of 
his day ; yet he declares that he relates nothing 
from hearsay, but only the experiences of which 
he was himself an eye-witness. From this we can 
judge what a battle-scarred veteran he must have 
been, and what a remarkable faculty he had of not 
getting killed. His book, first written in Dutch, 
made a great hit ; it was the popular success of 
the day, and a splendid '' seller." It was trans- 
lated into several languages, and was reprinted in 
almost a dozen editions. 

In 1666 John Exquemeling was in the employ 
of the French West India Company, and was sent 
out to the West Indies on business for the com- 
pany. Early in May he set sail from France on 
the St. JoTin^ in company with a fleet of thirty 
merchant ships under convoy of a man-of-war. 
On the voyage he was initiated into the peculiar 
ceremony of " baptism " at sea, which was current 
among the French and Dutch mariners. The 
novices were hoisted three times at the main- 
yard's end, and dipped into the ocean, those who 
wished to escape the wetting being obliged to pay 
a fine. At every dangerous passage, and at 
the Tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, this rite 
was performed on every person who had never 
passed that way before. 



244 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

After a rough and tempestuous voyage of two 
months, the aS'^. John cast anchor in the harbor of 
Tortuga. Exquemeling seems to have reached 
Tortuga at an unfortunate time, at the lowest ebb 
of his company's fortunes. Early in 1600 the 
French colonists had possessed themselves of the 
island, and had become flourishing planters and 
traders. Their prosperity attracted the attention 
of the West India Company, who established a 
colony of their own on the island and monopolized 
the barter trade with the pirates, hunters, and 
planters. But they soon found that pirates were 
poor payers, and their credit could not be relied 
upon, and the Tortuga branch of the company 
was obliged to go into bankruptcy and wind up 
its business. 

Almost immediately after Exquemeling's arrival, 
the company ordered the return of the factors and 
the sale of all the merchandise and servants belong- 
ing to them on the island. John was included in 
the category of servants, and was sold for about 
thirty dollars to the governor of the island. By 
ill luck, his new master turned out to be " the 
most cruel tyrant and perfidious man" that ever 
came into this world. Poor Exquemeling suffered 
not only " hard usages " and cruel treatment, but 
even hunger and starvation. His brutal master 
had also a sarcastic vein, for he offered John his 
freedom for the consideration of three hundred 
and seventy-five dollars. It was like offering a 



A PAIR OF LITERARY PIRATES 245 

pearl of great price to a beggar, for the poor slave 
had not a dollar in the world. 

At last Exquemeling's miseries of mind and 
body brought on a serious illness, which so low- 
ered his market value that the governor was glad 
to sell him to a surgeon for eighty dollars. His 
new master fortunately proved to be as kind and 
humane as his first owner had been cruel, and after 
having nursed, clothed, and fed him, he offered 
him his liberty on the sole condition that he would 
pay him a hundred and twenty dollars as soon as 
he had the means. 

Exquemeling now found himself a very happy 
but a very destitute man, free to do what he liked, 
but lacking in " all human necessaries" ; not know- 
ing how to get a living, with a debt of honor on 
his shoulders, and not a penny in his pocket. In 
this critical dilemma he determined " to enter into 
the wicked order of the Pirates," and was received 
into the society "with common consent both of the 
superior and vulgar sort." Thus he deliberately 
took up the profession of a pirate without even 
the excuse of a roving nature or a love of the sea. 
And I fancy he proved himself more successful as 
a student of nature and human nature than of the 
art of boarding and killing. 

Some of Exquemeling's observations on the 
products of the West Indies are most original, 
as when he declares that to his thinking amber is 
really beeswax. But he gives absorbing accounts 



246 SEA-WOLVES OF SEYEIST SHORES 

of the wild Indian tribes on the islands, and shows 
himself to be a pirate with keen observation and 
varied interests. And his contribution to original 
piratic literature is one of the most important that 
we possess. 

Another buccaneer writer, of less historic im- 
portance but of more literary finish and grace, 
was the dashing young Raveneau de Lussan, who 
kept a journal of his adventures. He was witty, 
vivacious, and vain, like a true Frenchman, and 
was in every way a strong contrast to his brother 
author, the serious Exquemeling. 

De Lussan writes his autobiography in a per- 
fectly candid and unaffected manner, which at 
once charms us and takes us into his confidence ; 
and he tells us very frankly that he cannot account 
for his career excepting by the passionate love of 
adventure and vagabondage that was given him by 
nature. He came of a Parisian family of good 
standing and position, and his father seems to have 
been comfortably supplied with the world's goods. 
His parents were both wise and tender in their 
handling of him, but his wildness and wilfulness 
went beyond their control. 

When he was scarcely seven years old, he began 
his escapades by frequent flights from home, and 
as he grew older he roamed not only over the 
whole of Paris but over miles of the surrounding 
country. To the love of a vagabond's life he 
united the love of arms, and this induced him to 



A PAIR OF LITERARY PIRATES 247 

turn soldier for a time. But at last he came to 
know that the sea was what he longed for. To 
sail through unknown waters to unknown shores, 
to brave mysterious perils, to see strange sights, 
to furrow the world with his keel, — this was his 
desire. No argument or prayer could turn him 
from his intent, and at last it was decided that he 
should take the voyage to the West Indies. 

From the harbor of Dieppe, on the 5th of March, 
1679, De Lussan set sail for San Domingo, on his 
first voyage of adventure, filled with a joy that 
was only equalled when, ten years later, he again 
set foot on his native shores. Now he was launch- 
ing forth on a life of romance and dreams. Later 
he returned to a reality to which he clung like a 
drowning man, and so great was his fear of finding 
his home-coming an illusion that for fifteen days 
he would not allow himself to sleep, lest on awaking 
he should discover that his return had been only a 
dream. 

De Lussan reminds one of a sea-gull in his fresh 
and graceful enthusiasm for the water, the winds, 
and the waves. He revels in the beauties of the 
sea and the freedom of the rover. There was 
nothing of the fierce freebooter in De Lussan ; 
he was the gay and heedless adventurer. 

His first experience was to be a rude and cruel 
shock, but he gives us only a glimpse of it, spar- 
ing us the ruthless details, and letting us draw 
our own conclusions. All we know is that for 



248 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

three years he was bound to a harsh and heartless 
master in San Domingo, under whose hands he 
suffered the most cruel treatment. Knowing the 
customs of the time, we can picture to ourselves 
how at the journey's end he had spent all his 
money, and how he was sold into slavery, as so 
many others had been before him. 

When he had reached the limits of endurance, 
he appealed to the governor, and through him 
obtained his release. But now, though free, he 
found himself bound by a debt of honor, and he 
was without a penny in the world. Then came 
what seemed to him the happy and clever inspira- 
tion to join the filibusters, as the French called 
the society of buccaneers. In this way he could 
"borrow money from the Spaniards in order to 
pay his debts," as he humorously expresses it. 

The advantage of this method of borrowing, 
he goes on to say, is that there is never any ques- 
tion of restitution, and besides it appealed to his 
fondness for travelling, as he puts it. Altogether 
it struck him as one of the most appropriate and 
congenial of pursuits. His only care was to select 
a captain under whom he would like to serve, and 
this was easily done, for Laurent de Graff was on 
the point of starting out on an expedition and 
was a good sort of chap for a corsair. The gov- 
ernor lent our new filibuster an ample sum of 
money, and everything was made easy for his 
future career. 



A PAIR OF LITERARY PIRATES 249 

On the 22d of November, 1684, with sails set 
to the breeze, the corsair vessel, manned by a hun- 
dred and twenty French adventurers, spread out 
to sea ; and to De Lussan the day seemed the 
happiest of his life. 

The cruise proved uneventful, and it was not 
long before young Raveneau and several of his 
chums became dissatisfied with their captain and 
separated from him. Setting sail on one of the 
prizes, to the number of eighty-seven men, they 
coursed up and down the Spanish Main, capturing 
pinnaces, ''borrowing" stores of provisions, and 
deciding on their future movements. 

De Lussan and his companions finally concluded 
to try their fortunes in the mysteries of the great 
South Sea. They crossed overland at the narrow- 
est strip of the Isthmus of Panama, and, after six 
weeks of suffering and vicissitudes, they reached 
the Pacific coast. There they joined a large fleet 
of English and French filibusters, which counted 
ten vessels, and eleven hundred men, and together 
with them plundered villages, burned towns, 
and led a series of expeditions that in their size 
resembled war more than piracy. 

But this life of the filibuster was not all that 
the light-hearted Raveneau had pictured to him- 
self. He had dreamed of jollity and plenty, of 
discoveries and exciting adventures. Instead he 
found himself in constant peril, enduring hard- 
ships, hunger, and fatigue, surrounded by enemies, 



250 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

in danger of death, torture, and starvation. De- 
cidedly the game was not worth the price to his 
mind, for he had not the true pirate's love of 
booty and of blood. 

Had he been able, he would gladly have crossed 
back to the north coast before the year was out, 
and escaped from " those regions which are 
undoubtedly very charming and delightful to 
those who live there, but seem very different to 
a handful of hungry and harassed adventurers." 
But he was forced to continue on the career he 
had chosen, and his four years of adventures in 
the Pacific Ocean more than satisfied his desire for 
a vagabond's life, and also gave us a charming 
journal of experiences. 

It seems clear, however, that a literary man, 
especially when he has an artistic temperament 
and vague aspirations, does not make a thorough- 
going pirate ; but as a special correspondent on 
buccaneering and filibustering expeditions he is a 
decided success. 



CHAPTER XXII 
BLACKBEARD AND BONNET 

The last of the pirate kings died with Henry- 
Morgan ; but piracy was far from being in a mori- 
bund condition, and some of the desperate sea- 
robbers who afterward pushed up the American 
coast from the Carolinas to Massachusetts were 
even better known in popular legend than the 
great chief himself. 

Early in 1700 the headquarters of the free- 
booters had changed from Jamaica and Tortuga 
to the Bahama group of islands off the southern 
tip of Florida. This had become a more conven- 
ient base of operations nearer to the centre of 
trade and on the chief highway of merchant 
vessels ; for the young colonies of Carolina and New 
York were drawing commerce northward from the 
Gulf of Mexico. 

The maze of intricate channels, the thousand 
hidden inlets, the dangerous eddies that interlace 
the hundreds of little islands of the Bahamas, 
made a safe and unapproachable retreat for the 
robber gangs. Even the creeks along the south- 
ern shores of the mainland were riddled with 

251 



252 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

their nests. There they would congregate in 
large forces, headed by some masterful and auda- 
cious chief, who would dash out with his fast 
ships and make raids on passing traders. 

The cargoes were carried into Charleston and 
other harbors along the coast, and there sold 
openly to the colonists. At first the rovers found 
ready friends and even abettors among the set- 
tlers ; their freely spent money was welcomed by 
the merchants of the seaport towns. They were 
lavish scoundrels, and spent and gave with as 
open a hand as they took. Even the governors, 
who were themselves gentlemen adventurers sent 
out from England, sometimes took shares in pirate 
raids, and had an interest more than sentimental 
in the success of the sea forays. 

At the height of this piratical craze, the famous 
Blackbeard entered upon the scene, and easily 
won the position of leading actor in melodrama 
and star of the troupe. He would have served 
very well to represent the typical pirate on the 
theatrical boards, and he certainly would have 
been a ranter. His enormous size, his big, bushy, 
black beard that grew up to his eyes, his reckless 
swagger, his fierce, savage look, and wild eyes, 
fill in to perfection all our childhood's pictures of 
the out-and-out pirate. 

Fancy him stalking upon the stage as he did 
upon his deck, with his enormously long beard 
braided with gayly colored ribbons into small 



BLACKBEARD AXD BOXNET 253 

tails and twisted around his ears ; a sling over 
his shoulder with three brace of pistols hanging 
in holsters ; lighted matches stuck under his hat 
on each side of his face ! That beard of his was 
likened, by old Captain Johnson, his biographer, 
to '' a frightful meteor which covered his whole 
face and frightened America more than any 
comet that has appeared there a long time." 

Then, too, it was found on a certain cruise, so 
rumor says, that there was a man on board more 
than the regular crew. He was seen sometimes 
below, and sometimes on deck, yet no man in the 
ship could give an account of who he was or 
whence he came. He disappeared a little while 
before Blackbeard's last catastrophe, and the 
sailors said that this man was the devil. What 
a picture of the story-book pirate ! 

The real Blackbeard was as rich in names and 
aliases as any modern bank robber. He was 
known as Edward Thatch, Teach, and Thack, 
but his real name was Drummond, and he came 
of a very respectable Bristol family, who after- 
ward settled in Virginia. Starting life as a 
common mariner, he sailed before the mast on 
several so-called privateering expeditions, and it 
was on one of these voyages that he met with a 
well-known pirate whose headquarters were at 
New Providence in the Bahamas. 

Hornigold, a veteran at the thieving trade and 
a man of wide experience in life, took a strong 



254 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEX SHORES 

liking to the bold and courageous English sailor, 
and persuaded him to follow the black flag. 
Their first cruise was in the spring of 1716, and 
was a lucky run. One vessel was plundered and 
two were captured. A large French Guineaman 
was their last prize, and Thatch obtained com- 
mand of her. 

Hornigold was old enough to have grown wise, 
and he now decided to return to New Providence, 
which had lately been swept clean with the broom 
of reform wielded by a new governor, and sub- 
mit himself to the king. But Thatch had too 
recently tasted the first excitement of a free- 
booter's career to renounce so soon the delights 
and risks of a roving life. He crossed over to 
the North Carolina coast and established himself 
in a secluded inlet, known long afterward as 
''Thatch's Hole." 

From this quiet den, dreaded by every sailor 
and skipper along the coast, the now notorious 
Blackbeard dashed out in his ship, the Queen 
Anne's Revenge^ raided the towns along the sea- 
board, captured passing vessels, plunged south- 
ward, where he took the Grreat Allan off St. 
Vincent, and rounded up in the Bay of Honduras. 

There he met with the distinguished and notori- 
ous Major Stede Bonnet, a man truly remarkable 
for his versatility and the ease with which he 
adapted himself to new conditions. Bonnet had 
spent the first half of his life in useful and emi- 



BLACKBEAED A^D BONNET 255 

nent respectability. And then, in order to make 
an average, and to experience a variety of sensa- 
tions, he plunged to the opposite extreme and 
turned himself into the most desperate, dare- 
devil sort of character. He was an artist ; he 
could throw himself into different situations, and 
whatever he undertook to do, he did well. 

When Bonnet assumed his new character, he 
was a middle-aged man of good family, well edu- 
cated, and wealthy. He had served under the 
king's colors with distinction and had been retired 
a major. His home, which it is insinuated was 
not a very happy one, was at Bridgetown in Bar- 
badoes, and he was living there comfortably, if 
not contentedly, with his family. 

Was his mind suddenly and strangely affected ? 
Was his wife a scold ? Or did he recall the fight- 
ing days and excitement of his youth ? No one 
knows. But while he calmly attended to his 
business and chatted with his friends, he was 
planning dark and wicked schemes. A sloop was 
secretly bought, armed with ten good guns, 
equipped in the most complete fashion, and pro- 
visioned for an indefinite time. 

Then Bonnet looked about for an appropriate 
crew, and had no difficulty in finding his men, 
seventy rough and desperate sailors, as ready with 
the knife as the rope. One black night, when all 
was ready, the future pirate slipped noiselessly 
out of his house, without saying good-by to his 



256 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

wife, and went aboard the sloop, newly named 
the Revenge, Anchors were weighed, sail hoisted, 
and the jolly sloop sped over the bar, out into the 
Caribbean Sea, through the Channel of Yucatan, 
through the Florida Straits, northward to the 
Capes of Virginia. 

There Bonnet took his stand outside Chesa- 
peake Bay, at the heart of the trade route. He 
was a good business man and knew where to 
strike the market. Ships sailing north and south, 
up and down the coast, were obliged to pass be- 
fore the grand stand and doff their caps to the 
great Bonnet. The haughty freebooter returned 
the salute through the mouth of his guns. Vessel 
after vessel was plundered, burned, and the crews 
sent ashore. 

When Bonnet was ready for a change of scene, 
he moved down to South Carolina, and anchored 
off the entrance to Charleston harbor. If any 
vessel dared to cross the bar, he was ready for 
her. And before long a sloop, with a brigantine 
close on her heels, came sailing out of harbor, 
straight into the hornet's nest. The little traders 
were quickly stung. The brigantine was looted, 
and then considerately sent back to port, but Bon- 
net took a fancy to the natty sloop and kept her 
for himself. Not having any use for the respect- 
able crew of mariners, he gave them their dis- 
missal, not at the rope's end, but ashore. Then 
gayly he sailed away, and with cool nonchalance 



BLACKBEARD AND BOXNET 257 

proceeded to refit his vessel on the coast of North 
Carolina. 

So far Bonnet had shown himself to be a most 
exemplary pirate. He took money, but he did not 
take life ; it was the most approved, modern, 
bloodless piracy. But his crew, who were a set 
of old-fashioned ruffians, did not appreciate him. 
They looked down upon him as a greenhorn and 
a landlubber. Just because he had never before 
been to sea and knew more about swords than 
sails, more about marching than luffing, they 
assumed contempt for his ignorance. All their 
successes were due, they fancied, to their own 
superior knowledge, and they began to brew 
schemes of revolt and mutiny. 

If they had only lived in the twentieth century, 
they would have learned that the business faculty 
is the badge of success, and that a good business 
man makes his mark whether as a pirate or a col- 
lege president. But, prejudiced as they were with 
their antiquated notions, they openly showed insub- 
ordination. Fortunately, Bonnet had great mental 
and physical courage, and he was accustomed to 
leading men. He kept the rebellious crew well 
in hand by sheer pluck and determination, and 
headed for the Bay of Honduras. This was how 
he came to meet the famous Blackbeard. 

Although Bonnet was brave, he was also prudent, 
and he perhaps felt that for the present he had had 
enough of independent cruising, and would enjoy 



258 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEX SHORES 

a variety. So when Blackbeard proposed that 
they should enter into partnership and join for- 
tunes, Bonnet eagerly assented. But hardly had 
they been a day in company than Blackbeard dis- 
covered the complete lack of seamanship of his 
new associate. He was himself too much of the 
unmitigated freebooter not to despise a gentleman 
pirate, and he thoroughly sympathized with the 
feelings of the obstreperous crew. 

Bonnet was summarily deposed from the com- 
mand of his own ship, and Blackbeard coolly 
appointed one of his own officers as captain of the 
Revenge^ while the outraged and enraged major 
was given a safe and harmless position on the 
tyrant's vessel, under his vigilant eye. Much as 
poor, injured Bonnet fumed and fretted in his new 
and humiliating situation, he was forced to accept 
it and to take a back seat for the present. 

Blackbeard was once more to the front, and 
hoisted sail jubilantly for the north. He was 
pleased with himself and with fortune, and cele- 
brated his progress up the Atlantic coast by many 
prizes and captures. His little squadron, handled 
by so desperate a leader, was no mean force. His 
own ship, which mounted forty guns, was strength- 
ened by three smaller sloops, and the combined 
crews numbered four hundred men. 

With this strong following Blackbeard planned 
an audacious blockade of Charleston. Station- 
ing his squadron outside the bar, he captured a 



BLACKBEARD AXD BOXXET 259 

pilot boat, and then, as vessel after vessel attempted 
to sail out of harbor, he seized them, robbed the 
cargoes, and, when he chose, made prisoners of the 
men. At the end of a few days as many as nine 
vessels had fallen into his clutches. 

One of these unfortunate boats was a passenger 
vessel bound for London ; and to Blackbeard's 
delight he found that he had captured no less 
distinguished a person than Samuel Wragg, a 
member of the Carolina Council. This was a 
chance for an enterprising pirate ! Mr. Wragg 
and his fellow-citizens were placed under close 
watch, and Blackbeard sent a deputation to the 
governor of Charleston armed with a list of 
demands. 

Either the black pirate was a wit or he was an 
M.D. in disguise, for his list of requirements 
included every variety of medicines, bandages, 
drugs, and surgical instruments. If these stores 
were not delivered at once, Mr. Wragg and the 
other Charleston prisoners would be put to 
death. The embassy was given only two days, 
and at the end of that time, if nothing had arrived, 
the threat was to be put into execution. 

Anxiously Mr. Wragg watched the entrance to 
the harbor for any sign of the returning boat. 
Two days passed and nothing came. Blackbeard 
notified his prisoners to prepare for death. The 
situation was desperate, and so was Wragg, who 
had no desire to die in this summary fashion. 



260 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

Nature seemed to have forgotten to endow the 
gentleman with courage, for, overcome by fear, he 
so far forgot his loyalty as to offer to turn traitor. 
For the price of his life he proposed to pilot the 
pirate ships over the bar, and help to attack the 
undefended town. 

Blackbeard was of course delighted with the 
suggestion, for it just suited his humor, but he 
did not have the chance to carry it out, for at 
that moment the pirate embassy hove in sight, 
bearing a heavy chest. The governor and council 
had not hesitated long in complying with the 
conditions. The town was unprotected, trade 
was tied up, eight sail were waiting in the harbor, 
not daring to venture out, and the incoming ves- 
sels had been frightened away. There was no 
alternative but to contribute to the health and 
life of Blackbeard and his gang. 

Two thousand dollars' worth of drugs were 
despatched to the blockading squadron, and the 
only hope was that if the pirates would dose them- 
selves in sufficient quantities, they might be killed 
off. Unfortunately they were immune even to 
drugs, and Blackbeard sailed away in high spirits 
after robbing and releasing his prisoners. He 
seems, however, to have been rather volatile in his 
behavior, for, after laying in stores enough to last 
several cruises, he suddenly decided to disband 
the company. But he did this in his usual arro- 
gant way. 



BLACKBEARD AND BONNET 261 

Sailing for North Carolina, he ran into Topsail 
Inlet under pretext of cleaning his ships. There he 
deliberately grounded two of the vessels, marooned 
some of the crew on a small, sandy, and barren 
island, reserved for himself a small sloop, and then 
deserted with his friends, and all the booty. As 
a climax he surrendered to the governor of North 
Carolina, obtained a pardon, and pretended to 
turn an honest man. 

Blackbeard was now a gentleman of leisure; 
his fast-sailing sloop had become a yacht, and her 
owner amused himself with sailing in the quiet 
waters of Albermarle and Pamlico sounds. He 
had a turn for society, too, and ingratiated him- 
self with many of the leading families, including 
Governor Eden and Secretary Tobias Knight. 
His intimacy, in fact, with these two men grew to 
be of a business as well as a social nature, and was 
more notorious than honest. 

Whether from fear, curiosity, or sympathy, 
some of the most prominent houses opened their 
doors to the former pirate, and Blackbeard boasted 
that he could invite himself to dinner with any of 
the chief members of the colony. But this was a 
libel on the settlers, for several of the old families 
refused to receive him, and once at least he was 
firmly rebuffed. 

Colonel Swann owned an estate bordering the 
harbor, and had a private landing with steps that 
ran down to the water's edge. Some distance be- 



262 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

yond, Blackbeard's yacht rode at anchor, and one 
morning the colonel received word that the pirate 
would dine with him that day and would arrive 
at noon. A few minutes before the hour the 
would-be guest stepped into his boat, and twelve 
lusty sailors pulled for the landing. Blackbeard 
had a good appetite and was looking forward to 
the dinner ; and there stood Colonel Swann at the 
top of the steps ready to receive him. 

But as the boat approached, the colonel raised 
his rifle and threatened to shoot the uninvited 
guest through the heart if he came a stroke nearer. 
As Blackbeard was on his way to a dinner party, 
he was unarmed, and was taken decidedly at a 
disadvantage. There was no alternative but re- 
treat, and with a very bad grace he retired to his 
ship. 



CHAPTER XXIII 
THEY GO DIFFERENT WAYS TO THE SAME END 

Blackbeard had never intended to pass the 
rest of his days in virtuous inaction. His stay 
in North Carolina had been nothing more than a 
subterfuge to gain accomplices and a convenient 
storehouse. By the summer of 1718 he fitted his 
yacht for a cruise, and sailed out of the harbor 
of Bath on what was to him a pleasure trip. 
Steering eastward toward the Bermudas, he 
ran across several English vessels, which he 
plundered of stores and provisions, and then cap- 
tured two French traders. One of these was 
laden with a good cargo of cotton, cocoa, and 
sugar, and, turning the crew into the second ves- 
sel, which had an empty hold, Blackbeard brought 
his prize into a cove not far from Bath. 

Secretly, in the night, the barrels and bags were 
hurried over to Mr. Knight's farm and hidden in 
his barn, under piles of hay and fodder. Black- 
beard reported to the governor that he had fallen 
in with a deserted French ship, which he had 
found in mid-seas without a soul on board. A 
court was called, and the ship condemned as a 

263 



264 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVE^ SHORES 

lawful prize. Governor Eden received for his 
share of the booty sixty hogsheads of sugar, and 
Mr. Knight twenty. 

This little affair of plunder and bribery brought 
with it a heavy price, and was the undoing of 
Blackbeard. His success made him insolent. He 
ravaged the coast north and south, he picked up 
traders, pillaged the coasters, and finally aroused 
the indignation of every planter and merchant 
along the coast. There was no use in looking to 
the authorities for help, as they cooperated with 
the pirate; the traders, therefore, sent a secret 
appeal to the governor of Virginia. 

Governor Spotswood acted promptly but quietly. 
So general was the sympathy with piracy that he 
did not even trust his own council, and kept his 
plans secret. He bought two sloops, equipped 
and armed them, and manned them with crews 
taken from two British frigates that happened 
to be lying in Chesapeake Bay. Lieutenant May- 
nard, of the frigate Pearly was placed in command 
of the expedition. The choice of the leader had 
been fortunate. Maynard was a man of resolu- 
tion, gallantry, and daring. He set sail from James 
River with orders to bring Blackbeard to Virginia, 
dead or alive. 

The pirate was trapped in Ocracoke Inlet. He 
had been warned by his friends of the coming 
attack, but had chosen not to believe the reports. 
When the sloops appeared off the mouth of the 



DIFFERENT WAYS TO THE SAME END 265 

inlet he was caught unprepared, with no chance 
of escape. There was a party tracking him by 
land, and a reward of five hundred dollars had 
been offered for his arrest. He had no alterna- 
tive but to prepare for the conflict, and it did not 
take long to clear his vessel for action. In a way 
he had an advantage, for his sloop mounted eight 
guns, and he had threaded every turn of the in- 
tricate channel, while his opponent had only small 
arms, and was unfamiliar with the shoals and 
sandbanks. 

Maynard had anchored outside the entrance for 
the night. At early dawn he weighed and entered 
the inlet with caution. A boat went ahead sound- 
ing. But for all his care his sloop grounded several 
times before he succeeded in coming within gun- 
shot. As Maynard approached, Blackbeard trained 
his eight guns on the advancing vessel and sent a 
rattling broadside through her, and at the same 
time cut his cables. 

A lively running fight followed. The British 
sloop had nothing but small arms to return the 
hot fire of the pirate guns, but they were kept 
going at a brisk pace. It was not long before 
Blackbeard's ship ran aground and stuck fast. 
Maynard ordered all his ballast to be thrown 
overboard, the water barrels staved, and the sloop 
lightened in every way, so that he could come 
within reach of the pirate and board her. But 
Blackbeard was ready with double-shotted guns 



266 SEA-WOLVES OP SEVEN SHOKES 

to receive his opponent. A terrific broadside 
disabled one of the British sloops, and killed or 
wounded twenty-nine men. 

This was a serious blow. Maynard's sloop 
alone was fit for action, and he prepared for a des- 
perate struggle. He ordered his decks cleared, 
and his men to go below, ready with sword and 
pistol in hand to leap up the hatchway at the first 
word of command. The heroic lieutenant alone 
kept the deck, with the man at the helm, and even 
the helmsman was told to lie snug. As the sloop 
advanced bows on, the erect and gallant figure of 
Maynard was the only one to be seen on board. 

Blackbeard had prepared for a desperate end. 
Rather than be captured he preferred to blow up 
his vessel and all on board, and he had stationed 
one of his gang close to the powder magazine 
ready with lighted match to send them to de- 
struction. But as the British bows struck his 
quarter he was deceived by the sight of empty 
decks, and Maynard holding the solitary ship. 
Throwing hand grenades which burst and envel- 
oped the sloop in a dense smoke, Blackbeard and 
fourteen men boarded with a rush, and flung 
themselves upon Maynard. 

At a word from their lieutenant the British 
crew leaped on deck and rushed headlong on the 
pirates. There were only eleven against fourteen, 
but they fought with desperation. Blackbeard 
and Maynard had emptied their pistols into each 



DIFFERENT WAYS TO THE SAME END 267 

other, and were in a fierce hand-to-hand struggle, 
when the lieutenant's sword broke. On the in- 
stant, taking advantage of this accident, the 
pirate stepped back to cock his pistol and fire it 
point-blank into Maynard's breast. Just then a 
sword-cut from one of the British sailors dealt 
Blackbeard a mortal wound in the neck, and he 
fell to the deck ; but so desperately had he fought 
that he had received twenty-five wounds before 
this final death thrust. 

Eight of the pirate crew had already fallen. 
The rest jumped overboard ; while those that still 
remained on the corsair craft called for quarter. 
Maynard sailed into the harbor of Bath with 
Blackbeard's head hung at the bowsprit. 

Meanwhile Bonnet had been pursuing an inde- 
pendent and equally lawless career. When Black- 
beard disbanded his gang at Topsail Inlet, the 
much injured major recovered his ship, the Re- 
venge^ sailed to Bath, and, with as much cunning 
as his overbearing associate had shown, he surren- 
dered to the king. This was merely to get a 
clearance for his sloop to sail to the island of 
St. Thomas, under pretext of applying for a 
commission as privateer. 

Hardly had he cleared the harbor than he headed 
again for Topsail Inlet, picked up the crew whom 
Blackbeard had marooned, and sailed southward 
in search of prey. And now, so as the more 
effectually to cover his traces and leave his former 



268 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

life behind him, he changed his name to Captain 
Thomas. 

With his old name the major cast off all restrain- 
ing memories, and went a-pirating in good earnest. 
He patrolled the coast, and every vessel he met 
was taken and plundered. Ship after ship was 
held up, trade was interrupted, merchants were 
in despair. As Bonnet sailed up and down the 
coast, his hold gradually accumulated stores of 
sugar, cotton, indigo, rum, molasses, money, and 
merchandise. In one month as many as a dozen 
vessels of all kinds — pinks, snows, sloops, schoon- 
ers, and other merchantmen — fell into his hands. 

By this time the Revenge^ or the Royal James^ as 
she was now called, needed to be cleaned and re- 
paired, and Bonnet retired to one of his haunts in 
the Cape Fear River. There he lingered for 
almost two months, careening and patching up 
his leaky sloop. 

While he was comfortably established in his 
lair, the exciting news leaked out that a pirate 
was lurking among Carolina coves, and it quickly 
spread as far as Charleston. The people were 
indignant ; the government was roused. A dar- 
ing and energetic gentleman of fortune, Colonel 
Rhett, was eager to lead an expedition against 
the marauders, and was given a commission by 
the governor. Two sloops were fitted out, each 
mounting eight guns, and manned by a crew of 
siity to seventy men. 



DIFFEREXT WAYvS TO THE SAME END 269 

As twilight began to fall, on the evening of the 
26th of September, 1718, two jaunty South Caro- 
lina sail hove suddenly in sight at the mouth of 
the Cape Fear River. Colonel Rhett had brought 
his sloops round in fine style, and stood in for 
the abrupt headland that rose at the entrance, 
outside the bar. Over a point of land up-stream 
he sighted the topmasts of the pirate's vessel and 
his prizes as they lay at anchor in a curve of the 
river. 

Bonnet was vigilant, and had posted a watch 
at some distance down-stream. When the strange 
sail crossed the bar, the alarm had already been 
given, and three armed canoes were on their way 
to reconnoitre. They hurried back to confirm the 
unwelcome news. Bonnet knew that the morning 
would bring a desperate struggle, and all night 
he prepared for the attack. Decks were cleared, 
men were taken out of the prizes and concentrated 
on the sloop, guns were made ready. It was a 
scene of feverish activity; not a moment's sleep 
did the crew get that night. 

Meanwhile Colonel Rhett had not been having 
an easy time, and the South Carolinians had passed 
a wakeful and anxious night. Hardly had the 
two sloops crossed the bar than they both ran 
aground on a hidden sand-bank. It was early 
morning before the efforts of the crews could get 
the vessels into deep water. And just as Rhett 
was well under way, the pirate craft came sailing 



270 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

down the river, every sail set, and flying before 
the breeze. 

A running fight was what Bonnet was trying 
for. He knew there would be no chance for him 
if he stayed cooped up in his anchorage, and a run 
for the open was his best hope. So down he 
swept full speed. But Rhett was a match for 
him. He stationed his sloops, one on each quarter, 
ready to board, and crowded the pirate inshore. 
Rhett knew nothing of the river, of its shoals and 
sandbars, but he trusted to fortune. 

It so chanced that his move not only drove the 
pirate craft fast aground, but sent his own sloops 
into the shoal water, where they struck bottom 
and were caught in the sandy bank. There they 
were, all three, held firm and tight, without the 
possibility of getting afloat until the tide should 
rise, and that would not be for five hours. 

As they lay, the advantage was with the pirates. 
Their boat had careened in such a fashion that 
she showed her hull to her opponent, while Rhett's 
flagship, the Henry^ had also careened in the 
same direction, and her bare decks faced the 
enemy within pistol shot. Meanwhile, the Sea 
Nymph had grounded entirely out of range, and 
took no part in the fight. 

Bonnet was confident of victory, and the pirates 
waved their caps in derision, as their raking fire 
swept the uncovered decks of the Henry. It was 
death to serve the guns on the Carolinian flag-ship, 



DIFFERENT WAYS TO THE SAME END 271 

but not a man flinched. The pirates had turned 
their backs, as it were, on the enemy, but the 
brave Carolinians resolutely faced the fire. 

For five hours the deadly broadsides, and the 
quick-firing small arms did their work. The Henry 
battered away at the round hull of her adversary, 
while the Royal James answered with a murderous 
fire that raked the Carolinian deck from prow to 
stern. 

"The issue of the battle now depended on the 
tide ; victory would be with the party whose 
vessel was first afloat. For five hours the flood 
poured up the river, and it was late in the day 
before it was high enough to lift the sloops 
from their stranded positions." With growing 
excitement and anxiety the pirates watched the 
rising waters. Would they be the first to right 
themselves ? No, their ship still stuck fast ; no 
motion cheered them, they were riveted to the 
bottom. 

But slowly, slowly, the Henry rose to an upright 
position ; the waters lifted her as they swirled 
around her sides, and she floated off on the flood. 
Despair filled the pirates. They clamored to sur- 
render. But Bonnet would not hear of it ; he 
would fire the magazine and send them all to the 
bottom rather than give in. During the alterca- 
tion the Henry's rigging had been repaired and 
she now came bearing down on her demoralized 
adversary. 



272 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

In spite of Bonnet's firm stand, the pirates pre- 
ferred to try the chances of a pardon, and as 
Rhett advanced he was met by a flag of truce. 
The gang surrendered unconditionally, and the 
victorious Carolinians sailed back to Charleston 
with thirty pirate prisoners. Not until Rhett 
had taken possession of the Royal James did he 
know that the freebooter chief whom he had 
trapped was none other than the famous Bonnet, 
the terror of the coast. 

But Bonnet's adventures were not yet at an 
end. Together with his crew, he was held in 
custody pending a trial. As Charleston had no 
prison, the common marauders were shut up in 
the watch-house, while Bonnet, with his sailing 
master and boatswain, were placed in the mar- 
shal's house under a close guard. The sentinels, 
however, proved corruptible to pirate gold ; Bon- 
net had many friends in the city, and so well did 
they use their influence and their money, that the 
guard were induced to fall asleep. 

One dark night. Bonnet, disguised in woman's 
clothes, and Heriot, his sailing master, escaped 
from the marshal's house, made their way to the 
harbor, where a boat was awaiting them, and sped 
along the coast northward. Great was the com- 
motion and consternation in Charleston the next 
morning when the flight w^as discovered. Boats 
were sent hurrying up and down the coast, every 
cove was ransacked, the woods beaten to find the 



DIFFERENT WAYS TO THE SAME END 273 



fugitives. A reward of thirty-five hundred dol- 
lars had been set on their heads, and many were 
eager to win it. 

The winds and waves had been buffeting and 
beating Bonnet's boat, and the pirates were having 
a very miserable time, while the province was 
out on their tracks. They had no provisions, 
and hunger and exposure finally drove them 
back to Sullivan's Island, only a few miles from 
Charleston. There they concealed themselves 
in the low myrtle forests and hoped to escape 
discovery. But reports of their hiding-place 
were sent to the governor, who immediately 
commissioned Rhett to pursue and capture the 
fugitives. 

With a strong detachment of men, under cover 
of the night, Rhett sailed across to Sullivan's 
Island, tracked the pirates to their lurking-place, 
and fired upon them. Heriot was killed, and Bon- 
net surrendered. 

This time he was carefully guarded, and brought 
to his trial before a distinguished court, made up 
of some of the most eminent men in the province. 
Already his gang had been tried, found guilty, 
and executed. When Bonnet heard the fate of 
his crew, he lost all hope for himself, and was not 
surprised at the sentence of death that was passed 
upon him. 

Throughout his trial he had shown firmness and 
courage. But when the hour drew near for his 



27-i SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

execution, he turned hypocrite and coward, and 
wrote an abject letter of appeal to the governor. 
This did not save him, and he met his fate on the 
10th of December, 1718, little more than two weeks 
after the death of Blackbeard. 



CHAPTER XXIV 
THE PIRATE PARAMOUNT 

He was less of a pirate than any who had gone 
before or who came after him, and yet he is the 
pirate paramount of modern times. And if any 
American boy were asked to name one name that 
would represent the whole type and breed, clan 
and class of sea-robbers, the answer would be : 
Captain Kidd. 

Year after year he has been voted the most pop- 
ular pirate of the profession ; and, in point of wide 
and stirring notoriety, he certainly has had no 
rival. Yet this fame was due largely to his fate, 
and both fame and fate were to some extent 
undeserved. 

But, after all, the question of popularity depends 
not so much upon whether a man is a good or a bad 
thief, as upon whether his life or his personality 
has something fascinating in it. And Captain 
Kidd's career had a great deal to excite interest 
and curiosity. Above all, his actions were myste- 
rious, and there is nothing so sure to charm the 
popular fancy as mystery. It leaves so much to 
our own powers of invention and to the wildest 
flights of possibility or impossibility, 

275 



276 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

The result was that Captain Kidd became a very 
mythical sort of person. Every one who had the 
gift of telling a story added to the list of remark- 
able experiences of our national pirate, until he 
became a fairy prince and the hero of ballads and 
romances innumerable. Finally it was thought 
necessary to reestablish the character and reputa- 
tion of the real Captain Kidd, and our delightful 
illusions have been sternly destroyed. 

But, just the same, we refuse to give up our 
belief in buried treasure, and we would all go and 
dig for it if we could ; in fact we are digging for 
it in one way or another all the time. 

William Kidd was a Scotchman of stanch de- 
scent. His father was a Nonconformist clergy- 
man ; and so strong and unflinching was his belief 
that he suffered torture by the boot, in those days 
of religious fanaticism, rather than renounce his 
faith. William inherited his father's respecta- 
bility and a certain traditional propriety which 
made the making of a pirate long and gradual; 
but he did not inherit his father's steadfast- 
ness. 

When he was still a boy, William went to sea, 
and showed so much skill, courage, and energy as 
a sailor that he soon rose to be a merchant captain. 
His voyages carried him to almost every part of 
the globe — to America, Africa, and Asia, into the 
Atlantic, the Caribbean Sea, and the Indian Ocean. 
He was not exclusive in his choice of customers 



THE PIRATE PARAMOUNT 277 

or of acquaintances ; he traded with all, and was 
friends alike with merchants and with pirates. 

In this way he became familiar with all the lairs 
and lurking-places of the robbers. His swift, 
sprightly little vessel could run into all waters, 
deep or shallow, and there were certain English 
captains of uncertain reputation and mysterious 
habits to whom he sold merchandise of different 
kinds, and with whom he was on terms of good 
fellowship. He always Had a knack of making 
friends, but sometimes his friends turned against 
him. 

After a wide experience as a sailing-master, 
Kidd settled in New York, and in 1691 married a 
widow. He owned a comfortable house, and had 
amassed a very good little fortune, but still kept 
up his business of trading. So well known had 
he become for his skill and energy, that he had 
been given a commission as privateer, when war 
broke out between England and France, and he 
did some good service by several daring captures 
of French merchantmen. 

In fact his success in harassing the enemy's 
commerce in the West Indies and along the 
Atlantic coast won for him a reward of seven 
hundred and fifty dollars from the New York 
General Assembly. This was Kidd's first taste of 
the exciting pursuit of acquiring property through 
the mouth of cannon, but he was soon to have 
another chance. 



278 SEA-WOLYES OF SEYEX SHORES 

King William III of England had become greatly 
incensed against piracy. Many complaints had 
come to him from his subjects in the American 
Colonies. And not only was English commerce 
harassed, and English ships captured in the Atlan- 
tic waters, but even in the Indian Ocean traders 
were plundered and whole cargoes stolen. The 
depredations of the pirates had become a serious 
menace to commerce, and King William was de- 
termined to fight them. 

A new governor of New York had just been 
appointed and was on the eve of sailing for Amer- 
ica. Captain Kidd happened to be in London at 
the time, and a friend or patron of his, one of the 
New York Livingstons, was also there. And it 
was by this combination of chances that Captain 
Kidd came to the king's notice and later to Exe- 
cution Dock. 

Mr. Livingston recommended Kidd to the new 
governor. Lord Bellomont, and he in turn spoke 
of him to King William as the very man to lead a 
cruise against pirates. He was daring, resolute, 
and a practised seaman, familiar with the seas far 
and near ; and Bellomont was confident that with 
one smart galley he could sweep the thieves from 
off the waters, although Kidd himself was rather 
loth to accept the task. 

The king approved of the scheme, and was 
willing to share in the profits, but prudently de- 
clined to contribute to the expedition or to make 



THE PIRATE PARAMOUNT 279 

it an official enterprise. The affair was therefore 
kept in private hands ; a subscription was started, 
and several of the great English lords contributed 
large sums. A patronage so distinguished was 
flattering to the vanity of a more or less obscure 
sea-captain, but it was undoubtedly his connection 
with the king and his eminent backing that gave 
him the notoriety of a state trial and brought him 
to the rope's end. If Captain Kidd had not been 
arrested, tried, and hung, if he had not been sacri- 
ficed to the reputation of high chancellors, high 
admirals, and governors, he might never have been 
the popular pirate of modern times. Would he 
consider this a compensation ? 

A small, swift galley was bought and equipped 
at a cost of thirty thousand dollars. To our minds 
a cruise against pirates seems a wild kind of specu- 
lation, but the stockholders evidently thought it 
would be a paying investment, and expected to 
realize a large percentage of interest. Forty 
shares from the booty were to be set aside for 
the subscribers, ten of these going to the king. 
The rest was to be divided among the crew. 

The galley Adventure was armed with thirty 
guns and carried eighty men when she set sail 
from Plymouth harbor, late in April or early in 
May, 1696. Kidd started on his cruise, provided 
with two commissions. One was the regular 
commission of reprisals against French ships, the 
two countries being then at war ; the other was 



280 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

an unusual document authorizing him to capture 
pirates, to bring the outlaws to justice, and to 
take possession of their property for the benefit 
of the owners and crew of the Adventure, 

Kidd sailed into New York harbor in July, 
bringing with him a French prize that he had 
captured in mid-seas. His first care was to in- 
crease the Adventurers crew, for she had not yet 
her full complement, and he easily lured men to 
take service by offering shares in the pirate plun- 
der. By September he had collected a hundred 
and fifty rough, reckless mariners, and was ready 
to take the sea. 

Kidd showed his independent spirit at once. 
Instead of hanging around the American coast 
and picking up straggling pirates who happened to 
be looking for prey, he shaped his course straight 
across the Atlantic and headed for Madagascar, 
the headquarters and rendezvous of piracy. He 
believed in carrying hostilities into the enemy's 
waters, and in this was very modern in the science 
of naval warfare. 

As yet he had not run up the black flag. He 
still honestly intended to carry out his commission. 
On the way he touched at several ports to lay in 
stores : at Madeira for wine, at Bonavista, one of 
the Cape Verde Islands, for salt, at Santiago for 
provisions. Then he swept around the Cape of 
Good Hope, and rounded up at Madagascar, the 
very nest and centre of the pirate swarm. 



THE PIRATE PARAMOUNT 281 

On the island of Madagascar the great ma- 
rauder-chiefs had established a regular robber rule. 
They had seized a large part of the island, had 
built forts and citadels, and had surrounded their 
houses with high ramparts and deep ditches. 
Completely hidden among the dense labyrinths of 
the tropical forests, and the maze of thorns and 
prickly plants, they were as safe as wild beasts in 
their jungles. In this secure retreat they lived like 
independent princes, in wealth and luxury. Here 
they returned from their long and world-wide 
raids, bringing back the riches of the East and 
West to their forest palaces. 

It so happened that Kidd found nothing to re- 
ward his daring. The pirates were all away from 
their lair. They were off on cruises, in search 
of plunder, and the creeks were deserted. For 
several months the Adventure hung around the 
coast, but not a sail hove in sight; only the 
even, endless plain of water stretched before them. 
The crew were growing discontented; for they 
had come thirsting for a fight and for booty ; 
months had already passed, in fact it was a year 
since they had left England, and they were poorer 
than when they started. 

The galley had been watered and victualled at 
Madagascar, but provisions soon ran low again, 
and, added to this, the vessel needed repairs. Kidd 
sailed to Malabar, but still the sea was empty. 
Then in despair he put in at Joanna, and there 



282 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

came his first stroke of luck. The wreck of a 
French ship lay in a mangled heap on the rocks 
of the island shores. The crew had escaped, the 
cargo was a total loss ; but Kidd found a pile of 
doubloons which he " loaned," as he expressed it, 
and these helped him for a time. 

But the small store of provisions that the doub- 
loons had bought lasted for only a short time, 
and, goaded by starvation, Kidd sent armed boats 
ashore with a party of reckless men to steal food 
from the natives at the muzzle of their pistols. 
To this desperate point had he been driven. He 
was, in fact, growing hopeless. A storm was 
brewing among the crew — mutterings and mu- 
tiny: they had been lured to the end of the vast 
ocean by promises of wealth, and they were 
starving, without a grain of food or a penny of 
money. 

Captain Kidd was no less discontented than his 
men. Failure was staring him in the face. Not 
only had he put large sums of his own in the ven- 
ture, but his patrons would hold him responsible 
for their outlay. To return empty-handed meant 
ruin, complete ruin and disgrace. In his way of 
thinking nothing was pardoned to failure, but 
everything was forgiven to success. 

His resolution was taken. There was but one 
way to make the speculation pay. He called his 
crew and said to them : "We have been unsuccess- 
ful hitherto, but courage, my boys, we'll make our 



THE PIRATE PARAMOUNT 283 

fortune out of the Mocha fleet. Away we go for 
the Red Sea ! " 

Sails were hoisted, and the reckless little galley 
sped madly through the water as she raced for 
Bab's Key. Now that the first step was taken, 
Kidd was eager for the dangerous and forbidden 
fruit of gold. Did not his commission read, " We 
command you at your peril that you do not 
molest our friends or allies under any pretence," 
and was not this Mocha fleet made up, not only of 
ships belonging to the Dutch, their allies, and to 
the Great Mogul, their friend, but of English 
vessels as well? 

Behind Bab's Key, sheltered by the headlands, 
lay in hiding the rakish ship of the desperadoes. 
Their lookouts could watch the narrow entrance 
to the Red Sea, only fifteen miles across. Through 
these straits the great Mocha fleet was soon to pass, 
laden with coffee, spices, and myrrh, with gold, 
ivory, and hard doubloons. 

Two days they waited, but the fleet had not 
come, and Kidd grew impatient. He sent an 
armed boat to reconnoitre, and the news came 
back that the vessels were on the point of weigh- 
ing anchor. There were fifteen galleons, Dutch, 
Moorish, and English, convoyed by two men-of- 
war: Dutch and English. The report did not 
alarm Kidd; he was keen for the fight. 

On they came, straggling through the channel, 
these slow, heavily laden merchant ships. Un- 



284 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

conscious of danger, they were scattered here and 
there in disorderly fashion. Close to the treach- 
erous headland lumbered an awkward galleon. 
With a plunge, the Adventure was out upon her 
in full chase, letting fly a brisk round of shot. 
But the man-of-war was prompt to defend her 
charge. Bearing down on the little craft she 
trained her big guns with good effect, and the 
Adventure veered off. She was light of wing 
and could fly with ease. 



CHAPTER XXV 
A PIKATE IN THE MAKIXG 

His first step had not been a success, but it 
sealed his fate. Captain Kidd had passed out of 
the door of the fraternity of privateers, and had 
stepped upon the threshold of the society of 
pirates. For a long time he tried to keep a foot- 
hold within each, and every now and then would 
turn back to hold ajar the door that was behind 
him. He was the kind of villain who wanted to 
do wrong under cover of the right, to have both 
profits and respectability, to stand in two camps 
at the same time. 

His traditional conscience, too, was pulling him 
back, while his cupidity dragged him forward. 
Poor Kidd had a hard struggle to accept infamy 
as well as gold ; in fact, to the last he never con- 
sented to admit that he was a pirate. And his 
career had singular lapses of repentance and 
strange attacks of subterfuge. 

Kidd veered off from the Mocha fleet fully deter- 
mined to succeed elsewhere. He was desperate, 
and in his present mood would not stop at any- 
thing. Heading for Malabar, he cruised off the 

286 



286 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

coast and captured a small Moorish vessel, whose 
captain, Parker, was an Englishman. For it fre- 
quently happened that the native merchants em- 
ployed foreign seamen, both Dutch and English, 
to command their vessels, having greater confi- 
dence in their ability. 

There was small booty on the Aden boat, — only 
a bale of pepper and one of coffee. But Kidd also 
found on her a quantity of myrrh which he used 
instead of pitch for caulking the worn-out Ad- 
venture — both poetic and ingenious. But the 
sweet-smelling myrrh failed to soften his feel- 
ings, now wrought up to a pitch of frenzy. He 
suspected there was gold hidden somewhere on 
the ship, and with reckless ferocity he ordered the 
Moorish crew to be hung up in the rigging and 
beaten with the flats of cutlasses to force them to 
confession. 

Parker, the captain, and a Portuguese passenger 
had been made prisoners and concealed in the hold 
of the Adventure^ but the fact got abroad, after 
touching at a port on the Malabar coast, and a 
Portuguese man-of-war trained her big guns on 
the pirate. Kidd was stubborn and in the humor 
for a fight. He might have spread his sails and 
escaped, but chose rather to close with his antago- 
nist in a vigorous six hours' contest. Then, finding 
the war-ship too strong for him, he hauled off to 
the open sea. 

Ten of his men were wounded, and the Adventure 



A PIRATE IX THE MAKING 287 

needed repairs, but when a Moorish sail hove in 
sight Kidd was ready to give chase. Hoisting 
French colors, he dashed in pursuit. Soon an 
answering French flag was run up on the fugitive, 
and when Kidd hailed her and ordered a boat to 
be sent aboard, she meekly obeyed. The captain, 
who was a Dutchman, and a French passenger 
named Le Roy, went in answer to the summons, 
and w^hen the captain displayed a French pass, 
Kidd in vehement language declared the ship to 
be a lawful prize. He plundered the cargo, which 
belonged to Moorish merchants, and carried the 
vessel to Madagascar. 

The pirate crew had tasted booty, and the first 
taste merely whetted their appetite for more. 
For them there were no favored nations ; all 
alike must be their victims. Their captain, how- 
ever, had not gone to such lengths, and on meet- 
ing an English ship in mid-seas, he exchanged 
visits with her commander and then let him go 
peacefully on his way. This enraged the crew ; 
they were sullen and menacing. Their stores 
were running low, and they had had but their 
caviare. 

The spirit of discontent grew, until one day 
William Moore, a gunner, made open complaint 
to Captain Kidd. The altercation between the 
two became vehement, and in a fit of violent 
temper Kidd seized a bucket that was standing 
on deck and struck the man on the head Avith it. 



288 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

The bucket was bound with iron, and Kidd was 
powerful of arm ; the blow made a severe wound, 
and the gunner died of it the next day. This un- 
intentional murder, which was one of the main 
charges against Kidd at his trial, was what carried 
him to Execution Dock, for the charge of piracy 
was never proved. 

In the old and " lamentable " ballad on Captain 
Kidd, he is made to say : 

" I murdered William Moore, 
And left him in his gore, 
Not many leagues from shore. 
As I sailed." 

After this Captain Kidd had few returns to 
penitence, and became more of the unscrupulous 
sea-robber. He touched on the coast of Malabar 
for wood and water, and when one of the party 
that was sent ashore was attacked and killed by 
the natives, Kidd landed in force, plundered and 
burned the houses, and shot one of the savages. 

Coasting along Malabar, he met a Moorish 
ketch, captured her and stole her cargo of sugar, 
tobacco, coffee, and myrrh. 

" I steer'd from sound to sound. 
And many ships I found, 
And most of them I burn'd, 
As I sailed." 

Next came a Portuguese ship from Bengal; 
out of her he took jars of butter, chests of opium, 
wax, iron, bags of rice, and rich East India goods. 



A PIRATE IX THE MAKING 289 

This was a fair haul ; the new year of 1698 prom- 
ised well, and January was not out before the 
promise was fulfilled. 

A sail loomed large upon the horizon out on 
the high seas, a rich quarry for the ravenous 
wolf. The heavy merchant ship was alone; not 
another speck could be seen on the wide, lonely 
stretch of water. There was no help for her ; she 
was too laggard of heel to escape, and the agile 
pirate craft was upon her. The chase was short ; 
with scarcely a struggle she lay in the water- 
wolf's clutch. Here was the prize of the long, 
dreary quest ; the reward of hunger, and solitary 
search, and danger. The pirates did not think of 
the gallows ; they thought of nothing but the 
gold. 

What a rich booty I Worth three hundred and 
twenty thousand dollars, and the ship besides! 
There were bales and bags packed away in the 
hold: two hundred and fifty bags of sugar, twenty 
bales of silk, seventy chests of opium, three hun- 
dred bales of calicoes and muslins. All this be- 
longed to wealthy Armenian merchants, many of 
whom were on board. There were also a number 
of Indians among the crew, while the only Euro- 
peans were two Dutchmen, one Frenchman, and 
AVright, the English captain of the ship. Over 
all flew the flag of the Great Mogul. 

This was the famous Quedagh Merchant — the 
ship of the buried treasure, the ship that was after- 



290 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

ward chased up the Hudson River, so tradition 
says, and was sunk in the night near the High- 
lands, the ship that was seen lying deep under 
water filled with bars of yellow gold, with spar- 
kling diamonds piled in loose heaps, and with 
stacks of silver coins. 

When the unfortunate Armenian merchants 
found that they, and all they possessed, had fallen 
into the hands of a villanous pirate crew, they 
were in despair. So rich a cargo was worth an 
effort to save, and they went in a body to Captain 
Kidd, begging him on their knees to accept a 
ransom of twenty thousand rupees, or about fifteen 
thousand dollars. But Kidd considered this a 
bad business speculation and refused the offer. 
He counted on far larger profits by the sale of the 
merchandise, and, besides, his seaman's eye coveted 
the fine, well-built ship for his own. The Adven- 
ture was fast growing unseaworthy, and here 
was a chance to leave behind his leaky little boat, 
and transfer his flag to a gallant craft. 

The unhappy merchants and crew were sent 
ashore by degrees in large boat-loads. All along 
the island coasts they were scattered and left to 
their own devices. The Quedagh Merchant was 
manned with Kidd's own sailors and gayly did 
they hoist sail for Madagascar. 

Touching at different ports along the way. 
Captain Kidd sold large portions of the cargo, and 
in a few days realized ten thousand dollars. Then 




Eagerly the men gathered on deck and crowded around the rich and 

glittering hoard 



A PIRATE IN THE MAKING 291 

came the division of the booty, of the money an(J 
merchandise. Eagerly the men gathered on deck 
and crowded around the rich and glittering hoard : 
gold, silver, jewels, silks, which, even when divided 
among a hundred and fifty men, gave a good 
dividend. Kidd's share amounted to eighty thou- 
sand dollars, and the men received two thousand 
dollars each. 

" I'd ninety bars of gold, 
And dollars manifold, 
With riches uncontroll'd, 
As I sailed.'* 

Provisions had been bought, also, from the 
native Indians, or taken, as the case might be. 
Kidd had a way of trading fairly when he first 
arrived at a place, but on the eve of sailing he 
would take freely of what he wanted and send the 
natives ashore without a penny in return. This 
treatment surprised them, writes the quaint old 
chronicler. Captain Johnson, for " they had been 
used to deal with pirates, and always found them 
men of honor, in the way of trade ; a people, 
enemies to deceit, and that scorned to rob but in 
their own waj^" They were not accustomed to 
a double-faced thief like the captain. 

Madagascar was soon sighted, and Kidd's 
first care was to shift his guns and tackle from 
the old Adventure^ run up the black flag on the 
masthead of the Quedagh Merchant^ take on his 
stores, treasure, and men, and set a match to the 



292 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

despised little galley. The new, fully made 
pirate was commander of a man-of-war. It was 
a proud moment when he cast anchor in the chief 
harbor of Madagascar, and the imposing size of 
the transformed merchantman impressed others 
besides her corsair commander. 

Not far from Kidd's anchorage lay another pirate 
ship, the Resolution. Her captain, CuUiford, 
had heard of Captain Kidd, of his high patronage, 
and his mission to sweep the robbers from the sea. 
Alarm spread through the Resolution; they were 
to be captured, then, in their lair, and carried 
to England to be tried and executed. Their lives 
hung in the balance, as they would perhaps hang 
later on the dock. Culliford determined to know 
his fate at once, and, manning a boat, he rowed 
over to the unwelcome arrival. 

Great was the surprise and joy of Culliford and 
his officers to find that the captor of pirates had 
himself turned pirate. Kidd received his brothers 
with open arms, and assured them of his sympathy 
and comradeship. They not only exchanged visits 
and presents, but drank each other's health in a 
glass of ''bomboe." This East India drink was 
made of water, lime juice, sugar, and a dash of 
rum, and is spoken of with warm appreciation 
by an English writer, who professes to admire a 
man that calks his ship with myrrh and drinks 
bomboe. It is true Kidd's tastes were more 
pesthetic than those of the common run of water- 
thieves. 



A PIRATE m THE MAKIXG 293 

]\lany of the pirate crew of the old Adventure^ 
who had been afloat for eighteen months in search 
of their fortunes, thought they would make sure 
of the luck that had come to them, and would 
retire before it was too late. They meant to risk 
nothing to chance. A large number, therefore, left 
the Quedagh Merchant and went ashore at Mada- 
gascar, crossing over afterward, as passengers, to 
New England. But, after all, they gained noth- 
ing by their desertion, for they were arrested and 
sent to England, where several suffered the fate 
of their leader. 

It was soon after this that Captain Kidd heard 
the first alarming news. He had spread sail for 
another cruise, and was touching at one of the 
Dutch Spice Islands, when he was told that he had 
been declared a pirate. Rumors of his extraor- 
dinary actions had reached England. Merchants 
were aroused ; a motion of inquiry had been made 
in Parliament as to his commission, and those who 
had sent him out ; lords were implicated ; the 
king even was concerned, and his commission 
had been misused. The almost unknown sailor, 
who for a year and a half had been out on a 
piratical cruise in distant seas, was already a 
notorious character. 

The king had decided that rather than extermi- 
nate pirates, he would pardon them, a far sim- 
pler and safer method. A proclamation was issued 
to that effect, but an exception was made of Kidd, 



294 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHOEES 

who, instead of being pardoned, was pursued by a 
fast English, sloop with orders for his arrest. 

Captain Kidd did not yet know the worst ; he 
did not know that he had been singled out for 
special retribution, but he had heard enough to 
show that his return would be unsafe. However, 
with his usual self-reliance, he flattered himself 
that his peculiar doings would be overlooked. 
He also counted on the influence of his high 
patrons, little thinking that he was to be made 
their scapegoat. 

And thus, with overweening confidence, he de- 
liberately put his head into the noose, and set sail 
for the West Indies. It was a long stretch across 
the desolate ocean ; gales blew fiercely, and storms 
broke over the solitary ship. But at last she 
sighted the northernmost of the Caribbee group, 
and dropped anchor in the little harbor of Snake 
Island. Kidd's advance from this point was 
wary, for he now learned that a British man-of- 
war, the Queenshorough^ was out upon his tracks. 
And, although he still relied on the influence of 
his friends the lords, and on a few French passes 
that he had found on the captured vessels, he 
wanted to arrive upon the scene with as little 
damaging evidence as possible. 

Now, the most serious proof of his irregular 
proceedings was the great East India merchant- 
man, transformed into Captain Kidd's man-of-war, 
whose character could by no device be disguised. 



A PIRATE IN THE MAKING 295 

There she was, formidable, well armed, with an 
enormous booty packed away in her hold. No 
subterfuge could explain her presence in New 
York harbor, and it was clear that the Quedagh 
Merchant must be sacrificed. 

Laying his plans with care and cunning, Kidd 
slipped southward to Curagoa, off the coast of 
Venezuela, to take in supplies and make his final 
arrangements. There he ran in with a fast sloop 
from Philadelphia, the Antonio^ which had touched 
at the island for trade. She was the very craft for 
his purpose, and with small delay he bought her, 
and set his men to transferring all the portable 
treasures from the hold of the Quedagh Merchant 
to the hold of the Antonio, 

The jewels were tumbled into stout canvas 
bags, all the gold and silver was carried off in 
chests, and a few bales of merchandise were also 
added. But the heavy booty must be left behind 
in the larger ship, and she was still a rich prize, 
even after the most valuable part of the plunder 
had been slipped into the sloop. Her cargo was 
no mean one, for it included a hundred and fifty 
bales of the finest silks, eighty tons of sugar, forty 
tons of saltpetre, besides large quantities of iron, 
anchors, stores of ammunition, and fifty guns, — 
a very good outfit for a pirate crew. 

And all these bulky riches fell to the portion of 
twenty-two men, and of Bolton their commander, 
whom Kidd left behind to man the Quedagh Mer- 



296 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEIST SHORES 



chant. The rest of the crew went on board the 
Antonio with Kidd, and the two vessels sailed out 
of Curagoa, keeping company until they reached 
San Domingo. There they parted, and from that 
day to this the fate of the Quedagh Merchant has 
been a mystery. 

Many rumors were afloat to account for the 
complete disappearance of the rich East Indiaman. 
Some said that the pirates cruised for several 
months among the islands of the Caribbean Sea, 
and then, after landing their booty, burned the 
ship. Others declared that Kidd himself sent 
one of his men to set fire to his great prize, so 
that not a vestige should remain to testify against 
him. 

But when once fancy was let loose there was no 
holding her back, and she invented endless excit- 
ing stories. The Quedagh Merchant^ she said, 
was run daringly into New York harbor, was seen 
flying at full speed up North River with a British 
man-of-war at her heels, and was then sunk off the 
Highlands on the Hudson. Sometimes the story 
was varied, and the ship was burned to the water's 
edge. An old Indian from Michigan saw the 
flames leaping up the rigging and the hull ablaze. 

But the old Indian must have been dreaming, 
for a woman in Lynn was mesmerized, and, while 
she was in a trance, she saw the vessel lying at 
the bottom of the river, and in the hold were 
chests of gold and silver, and little glittering 



A PIRATE m THE MAKING 297 

heaps of diamonds and rubies. But more inter- 
esting even than the jewels was Captain Kidd 
himself, whom she saw leaving the ship. He was 
a man large, heavily built, of medium height, with 
broad chest, thick neck, and powerful head. She 
could even see the flash of his piercing eyes, and 
the hook of his nose. 

All these tales of a phantom ship and a phantom 
man were fabricated after Captain Kidd had made 
himself famous by being hung, so we will follow 
his fortunes in the Antonio^ when he had separated 
from his companions and run boldly into the trap 
that had been laid for him. As usual he wanted 
to reap the advantages of piracj^ without becoming 
an outlaw, and he had no desire to spend the rest 
of his life a-buccaneering, but wished to return to a 
career of enriched respectability. 

Feeling his way along, he first sailed up the 
Atlantic coast and ran into Delaware Bay for 
repairs, in June 1699. Avoiding the armed sloop 
that had been sent out against him, he next sailed 
into Oyster Bay, and from there wrote a letter to 
his wife, and one to Lord Bellomont. He was 
counting on the protection of the governor, and 
he put the most plausible face he could on his acts, 
asking for a safe conduct. 

Lord Bellomont was in Boston when he received 
Kidd's letter, and he sent an evasive answer with 
the intention of luring him into his toils. If Kidd 
could prove that he had done nothing unlawful, 



298 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

he was safe in coming to Boston, so said the gov- 
ernor. Confident, as usual, Kidd thought he 
could extricate himself, and that the matter would 
be hushed up ; so he sailed slowly along the coast 
of Long Island. 

At Block Island Mrs. Kidd and the children 
joined the captain ; and from there Kidd sent on to 
Lady Bellomont a magnificent gift of jewels worth 
three hundred thousand dollars, hoping to propi- 
tiate his patron. But it was more than gold or 
diamonds that Lord Bellomont and his colleagues 
now wanted ; their reputation was at stake, and 
the price must be the price of blood. 

Leisurely stopping along the coast. Captain 
Kidd made his way to Boston ; and it was this 
last slow sail of his to his doom that started the 
stories of his buried treasure. He is said to have 
landed at dead of night at quiet and solitary 
places all along the shores of Long Island, of 
Cape Cod, and on the Sound, with sacks of gold 
and bags of jewels which he buried in the sands 
or under rocks. 

Mysterious marks were seen on trees and stones, 
a sort of blazed trail to the secret treasure holes. 
There is a rocky ledge on Long Island called 
" Kidd's Ledge," where it was thought that he had 
hidden large booty. For years and years after- 
ward the lonely spots and wild shores were ran- 
sacked and dug with feverish excitement ; every 
moment the treasure hunters expected to strike a 



A PIRATE IN THE MAKING 299 

hard iron chest or lay bare a gleaming pile of 
jewels ; but the reward never came. If Captain 
Kidd hid a large part of his plunder, it is stiU 
underground. 

We shall probably never know whether Thimble 
Island or Block Island are secreting rich treasures 
among their crevices, but it is well known that 
Kidd stopped at Gardiner's Island on his way 
north, and left some bales and bags of goods in 
Mr. Gardiner's keeping. He was expecting to 
call for them again, but he never returned ; for a 
week after reaching Boston, while he was walking 
unconcernedly along the street, he was suddenly 
arrested. Everything that he possessed, or that 
could be found in the hold of the Antonio^ was 
seized, — gold, silver, sugar, and merchandise. 
And Lady Bellomont surrendered her three hun- 
dred thousand dollars' worth of jewels. 

Captain Kidd was soon afterward carried to 
England for his trial. There he found that his 
case had become notorious. As the partner of 
the king and of high lords he was the most talked 
of man in the kingdom. Lords Oxford and 
Somers had been questioned for their interest in 
the disgraceful enterprise, and their opponents 
were trying to make it the means of their down- 
fall. The people took sides for and against the 
opposite parties : Captain Kidd's piracy had be- 
come a political issue. 

Under these conditions there was no hope for 



300 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

the pirate, although his piracy was never proved. 
He was given the notoriety of a state trial, and 
was sentenced to death for the murder of Moore, 
his gunner. It was party rivalry that sent him 
to the rope's end. 

Kidd was executed at the famous Execution 
Dock, and was hung twice, the first rope breaking 
with his weight. He was afterward hung in 
chains over Thames River, six of his men suffer- 
ing the same fate with him. This was the end of 
the most famous and the least ferocious of the 
pirates of our coast. 



CHAPTER XXVI 

THE FOAM OF THE SEA 

The last of the romantic freebooters of the sea 
were the Chinese Ladrones, the foam and froth 
of the Southern waters. Piracy seems to have 
had a strong attraction for the half-civilized 
peoples of the East : the Persian Gulf, the Indian 
Ocean, the China Sea, were infested by hordes 
of water-thieves, Asiatics, Malays, and Mongols. 
Hundreds of the long, light, pirate-proas ran in 
and out among the countless fastnesses of the 
East India Islands and waylaid the traders that 
sailed on the highway between Europe and Asia. 

For three hundred years the Philippine Islands 
were harassed and raided by the fierce Soolos, 
some of the most desperate of the Malay pirates 
whose strongholds were among the small islands 
of the Malacca Straits. Their brethren, the wild 
Illanoons, spread their ravages far and wide, 
from Malacca to the Spice Islands, and all alike 
were patronized by the great Malay princes who 
contributed to their outfit and shared their booty. 

Raga, the "prince of pirates," a man both 
shrewd and daring, was the most noted and suc- 

301 



302 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEI^ SHORES 

cessful of these Malay marauders, and for seven- 
teen years he headed a vast system of sea-robbery, 
terrorizing the coast of Borneo, and carrying on 
extensive piratic operations. Even as late as 
1831, Captain Endicott of Salem had an exciting 
experience with the Malay thieves while lying off 
Qualla Battoo in his ship the Friendship. 

But the Malay pirates, of cowardly and cau- 
tious ways, have nothing in them to interest us, 
and the only Eastern freebooters with a claim to 
daring and ability were the Chinese outlaws 
whose large and well-ordered squadrons held the 
Southern Sea during a brief but brilliant sway, 
early in the nineteenth century. 

Not that China had waited until recent times 
to produce her pirates, for, much earlier, during 
the wars between the Manchus and the Chinese, 
a powerful and dashing pirate chieftain had held 
the stage for several years. Koshinga is one of 
the famous names in Chinese history. 

This patriot-hero, who was the son of a wealthy 
merchant, had command of a large Chinese fleet 
and became a formidable water-prince. He con- 
quered cities, made descents on the coast, defeated 
Tartars and Manchus, captured islands, carried 
off booty, led marauding expeditions, and at- 
tempted to establish a principality of his own. 
His reign was short and vivid and was the rule 
of one. 

Later was formed the great water republic of 



THE FOAM OF THE SEA 303 

the Ladrones. '' We are like vapors dispersed by 
the wind ; we are like the waves of the sea, roused 
up by a whirlwind ; like broken bamboo-sticks on 
the sea, we are floating and sinking alternately, 
without rest or peace." This picturesque and 
poetic description of the Chinese pirates was given 
by one of their most famous leaders, the notorious 
Chang Paou, commander of the red flag. 

It was a strong and united confederacy that 
ruled over the domain of the water in the first 
decade of 1800. During their supremacy they 
were the masters of the Southern Sea. They 
levied tribute from Chinese trading vessels and 
from Spanish and Portuguese merchantmen. They 
terrorized the towns and villages along the whole 
length of the coast. The inhabitants were dis- 
persed, villages totally destroyed, and the entire 
seaboard was in confusion. 

The dominion of the pirates extended along the 
coast from Tonquin to Foochow, but their chief 
base of operations was among the islands at the 
mouth of Pearl River and in the water channels 
along the shores of the southern province of 
Quang-Tung. Here was the meeting ground of 
the trading vessels from all parts of the world. 
It was called, " The great meeting from the east 
and the south," and rich booty fell into the hands 
of the nimble water-thieves. 

Farther out to sea, on a small and secluded 
island, shunned by all men of peace, was a safe 



304 SEA-WOLYES OF SEYEIST SHORES 

harbor of refuge for the pirates where they retired 
between their forays. Steep, high mountains rose 
abruptly from the shores, and in the rock-bound, 
hidden harbor a hundred vessels found safe moor- 
ings. The island was also a garden of plenty, and 
produced all that could satisfy the heart of a 
rover. Fertile valleys and fields spread out from 
the foot of the mountains. Flowers bloomed in 
profusion, animals roamed freely through the 
woods, and fruit ripened on the trees. This was 
the lair and lurking-place of the robbers ; here 
they repaired their vessels, laid in stores, and pre- 
pared for the coming raid. 

Six bands or squadrons formed the powerful 
Republic of the Sea. Each division was led by a 
separate commander, and fought under a different 
flag, the red, the yellow, the green, the blue, the 
black, and the white. Every leader had also a 
deputy or lieutenant, who commanded smaller 
squadrons and was responsible to his chief. The 
" Scourge of the Eastern Sea " was the com- 
mander of the yellow flag. The ''Lustre of 
Instruction " led the division of the black. The 
white flag obeyed the " Jewel of the whole crew," 
and the green acknowledged the ''Frog's meal." 
At the head of the blue was "Bird and Stone." 
But of the six squadrons, the red was the most 
powerful, being the equal in strength and numbers 
of all the others combined, and it was under the 
chief command of an able and daring woman 



THE FOAM OF THE SEA 305 

pirate, Mistress Ching, who appointed the notori- 
ous Paou as her chief captain. 

Mistress Ching was the widow of the chief 
Ching yih, the usurper, who had come of pirate 
stock, and had for several years led his squadron 
in successful ocean cruises. In one of these plun-' 
dering expeditions, while Ching yih was hovering 
around the mouth of the Canton River on the 
watch for prey, he espied a fisher craft running 
for the shore. With a sudden swoop he was upon 
her ; the boat was captured, and the fisherman and 
his son Paou, a well-made youth of fifteen, were 
made prisoners. Paou was a clever and capable 
boy and found favor with the pirate chief. He 
soon rose to be Ching's favorite and was made a 
headman or captain. The quiet Chinese fisher- 
boy, as he plied his father's trade, had never in his 
wildest dreams foreseen the life of excitement, of 
adventure, and of tremendous power that was to 
be his destiny. 

Not long after, the squadron was overtaken by 
a violent hurricane, and the high waves swept the 
decks of the pirate junks. Ching, the leader, per- 
ished in the storm, and his wife assumed supreme 
command, making Paou her chief captain or first 
minister. 

Captain Paou was a man born to command. He 
increased the fleet and enlisted new recruits. He 
was a strict disciplinarian, politic, energetic, and 
shrewd, — a dictator in his floating domain. 



306 SEA-WOLYES OF SEYEX SHORES 

Realizing that tlie success and stability of his rule 
depended upon a united and submissive following, 
he did everything to bind together the crews and 
to impose a code of pirate law. He believed in 
order, regularity, and fair play among thieves. 
The good of the whole was his watchword. 

One of the first acts of his new authority was to 
issue two regulations which served to keep the 
wild crews of outlaws in a wholesome state of fear. 

" If any man goes privately on shore, or what 
is called transgressing the bars, he shall be taken 
and his ears shall be perforated in the presence of 
the whole fleet ; a repetition of the same act shall 
be punished by death." 

"Not the least thing shall be taken privately 
from the stolen and plundered goods. All shall 
be registered, and the pirate receive for himself, 
out of ten parts, only two ; eight parts belong to 
the storehouse, called the general fund ; taking 
anything out of this general fund, without per- 
mission, shall be death." 

Mistress Ching was by no means a figurehead 
in her realm ; Captain Paou consulted her on 
all points, and in her capacity as commander-in- 
chief she laid down rigid rules of conduct. All 
the booty was regularly entered on the register of 
the storehouse, and out of this common fund each 
member received what he was in need of. No 
private possessions were allowed, and nothing 
could be done without a written application. 



THE FOAM OF THE SEA 307 

In their filibustering expeditions the fleet was 
to act as a whole, and no individual was allowed 
to take separate action. If any man left the line 
of battle, either to advance or retreat, he could be 
accused in general council, and if found guilty, 
he was beheaded. With rigid laws such as 
these the pirate fleet became a model of order 
and discipline. 

The outlaws, in fact, looked upon themselves 
more as rebels than as robbers, and their leaders 
called themselves patriots, not pirates. They also 
had a convenient and plausible way of referring 
to their somewhat doubtful commercial transac- 
tions as a "transshipping of goods." 

Captain Paou was a man of great physical 
strength as well as mental energy, and his men 
came to look upon him as a sort of demigod. 
On one occasion a band of the pirates went ashore 
and entered a temple that was near the seaboard 
under the pretence of worshipping before the 
great image. But their piety was a sham and 
they desired only to carry off the statue. The 
men laid hold of it confidently, but to their 
surprise they could not move it. They pulled 
and hoisted, but all in vain. Then Captain Paou 
came to their aid, and he alone was able to raise 
the heavy image and carry it in triumph to their 
ships. This filled the crew with a superstitious 
awe of their commander. 

Every squadron was detailed to cruise on a cer- 



308 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

tain station at the mouth of one of the water- 
ways, and the whole length of the coast was thus 
divided between the six different flags ; the red 
flag waved over the eastern shores and rivers. 
No trading vessels could run the gantlet of their 
sharp lookouts ; no rich cargoes passed through 
those well-watched waters that did not fall into 
the grasp of the marauders and fill their holds. 
The Chinese government alternated between fear 
of the pirates, and occasional attempts to suppress 
them, but in these encounters the freebooters were 
usually the victors. 

Early in September, 1808, the naval officer of 
the garrison at Bocca Tigris sailed out at the head 
of an expedition against the squadron of the red. 
News of the projected attack was brought to 
Captain Paou by his spies, and the wily pirate 
had ample time to lay his plans. He prepared an 
ambush in a sequestered bay. Then he advanced 
with only a few vessels to decoy the Chinese 
leader into the trap. The ruse succeeded. Com- 
mander Lang pursued the pirate craft into the 
heart of the treacherous ambuscade. Suddenly 
twenty-five vessels appeared on his rear, and he 
found himself surrounded by three lines of junks. 

He fought with desperation ; time and time 
again he attempted to break through the line, 
but failed. The battle lasted from morning till 
night. Toward the close of the day Captain 
Paou advanced upon his opponent, and a smart 



THE FOAM OF THE SEA 309 

duel began between the two chiefs. Both were 
brave, but the pirate was the more wary of the 
two. When he saw that his antagonist was aim- 
ing for him point blank, he dropped suddenly 
upon the deck at the moment when the gun was 
fired. Friend and foe thought him to be severely 
wounded, but when the smoke cleared he rose and 
stood erect before them all. His followers thought 
that he was a spirit, and with fresh enthusiasm 
and fire they threw themselves upon the enemy, 
grappled the commander's ship, and captured it 
after a severe struggle. By five o'clock three of 
the government ships had been sunk or destroyed. 
Gathering themselves together for a last over- 
whelming attack the freebooters carried every- 
thing before them. The remaining fifteen ships 
were captured, and Commander Lang, with many 
others, was taken prisoner. 



CHAPTER XXVII 
THE SQUADRON OF THE RED 

The signal victory of Captain Paou off the 
Ladrone Islands inspired the government with 
fear. The pirates were counted invincible, and 
the timorous attitude of the naval officers served 
only to increase this feeling and to strengthen the 
cause of the rovers. A large addition had also 
been made to their fleet by the capture of the 
government vessels. It was therefore with a 
fatal timidity and hesitation that General Lin, 
one of the Chinese commanders, weighed anchor 
and headed out to sea in search of the victorious 
outlaws. When he sighted them, he was seized 
with terror. Their ships covered the water like a 
flock of gulls and appalled him by their numbers. 

Instead of bearing down on the enemy whom 
he had come out to engage. General Lin now 
hastily gave orders to retreat. The ships turned 
on their heels and ran for the shore, with the 
pirates in hot pursuit. The grand attack had 
become an ignominious flight. After a lively 
chase Captain Paou came within gunshot of the 
government ships and opened fire. But this did 

310 




The pirates swarmed around their opponents' ships 

everything with a rush 



. and carried 



THE SQUADRON OF THE RED 311 

not satisfy him. His main method of attack was 
boarding, almost the only way in fact in which he 
could get possession of his opponents' vessels. At 
this critical moment the wind died down and a 
sudden calm fell upon the waters. The pirate 
ships could not move ; they lay motionless on the 
glassy surface. 

Captain Paou, however, was not the man to be 
thwarted ; the inventiveness and enterprise of this 
talented chief seemed endless. He now ordered 
his men to leap into the sea, and encouraging them 
by his example, he swam lustily for the enemy. 
The moving figures made no sure target for the 
enemy's aim, and the novel mode of attack some- 
what disconcerted the regular tars. The pirates 
swarmed around their opponents' ships, scrambled 
up the sides, tumbled on to the decks, and carried 
everything with a rush. Six vessels were boarded 
and captured, and Captain Paou bore them off 
in triumph to swell his fleet. 

Exasperated at the repeated defeat of her ships, 
the government resolved to send out a formidable 
expedition under the command of Admiral Tsuen, 
for the complete suppression of the pirates. A 
large fleet of a hundred vessels was fitted- out, and 
weighed anchor early in the year 1809, headed by 
the flagship of the admiral. Great hopes were 
placed on this organized attempt, and it was fully 
expected that the pirates would be wiped out of 
existence. 



312 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

But the rovers had in their employ trusted spies 
who kept them informed of all approaching danger. 
Being warned of the admiral's movements, Captain 
Paou formed his line of battle and bore down to 
meet the enemy. A fierce battle followed ; the 
firing on both sides was incessant, and the gov- 
ernment guns did fatal work. The sails of the 
pirate craft were made of matting and were ex- 
tremely inflammable. They were soon set on fire 
by the rain of shot, and the flames leaped up the 
ropes and rigging, but Captain Paou ordered the 
sails to be pulled down in order to save the vessels. 

The Chinese admiral then directed the guns to 
be aimed at the enemy's steering gear in the hope 
of making the ships helpless. The cross fire of 
four divisions wrapped the pirates on all sides, 
but they sturdily stood their ground, and fought 
with desperation. After inflicting severe damage 
and heavy loss of life, the government ships hauled 
off, carrying with them two hundred prisoners. 

This was the most serious blow that the pirates 
had sustained. They had not been defeated or 
exterminated, but they had received rough hand- 
ling and lost several vessels. It was a salutary 
check to the growing over-confidence and conceit 
that had been bred by the long list of their pre- 
vious successes. 

After this experience they were more careful, 
and when a second expedition put to sea later in 
the same year, they were well prepared to give 



THE SQUADRON OF THE RED 313 

and not receive a rebuff. It was Admiral Tsuen 
who again led the attack. The squadron of the 
red was drawn up in the bay of Kwang Chow 
and waited for the advance of the opposing line. 
Mistress Ching, who had taken part in all the 
adventures of her followers, now assumed supreme 
command and issued her orders. Captain Paou 
was to attack the front of the enemy's line with 
a division of ten ships, while Lieutenant Leang 
was to round the admiral's line and come upon it 
from the rear. 

Caught between two squadrons the Chinese 
admiral made a vigorous resistance, and even 
succeeded in holding the pirates at bay until a 
reenforcement of the rovers suddenly arrived 
upon the scene of action. The battle then turned 
into a rout. The government ships were thrown 
into disorder, scattered, overpowered, and cut to 
pieces. A panic seized the crews and every man 
fought for himself without order or discipline. 
Amid hopeless confusion the ships broke away 
and fled. Fourteen were captured, and the rest 
escaped in a wild stampede. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 
A CAPTIVE'S STORY 

It so happened that at about this time, when 
the Ladrones were at the height of their power, 
an Englishman had the interesting but rather un- 
comfortable opportunity of studying their methods 
at first hand. And he afterward wrote an article 
on his experiences, for he had the good fortune to 
survive the adventure. 

It was in September, 1809, that the East India 
Company's ship, the Marquis of Ely^ dropped 
anchor off the coast of China, some twelve miles 
from Macao. A cutter was manned with seven 
well-armed men, and Richard Glasspoole was sent 
to Macao for a pilot. For the next eleven 
weeks that boatload of men had an exciting time. 
Squalls, strong tides, and heavy swells swept them 
rapidly along the current ; the air was thick and 
hazy, and before long the ship was entirely lost 
sight of. 

The men tried every device. They struck their 
masts and pulled at the oars ; then they set a 
reefed foresail and mizzen. Nothing was of 
any avail, and they were fast drifting on to the 

314 



A CAPTIVE'S STORY 315 

jagged rocks of the shore. A Chinese country- 
ship lying at anchor under the land weighed and 
slipped away at sight of the strange boat. Not 
another sail was in sight ; the cutter had lost her 
anchor, and now the only prospect was a ship- 
wreck. 

Harder than ever the men pulled, and after five 
hours of stout rowing they managed to clear the 
reefs. Then they were cheered by the sight of 
one of the Company's ships, and they made signals 
to her with their handkerchiefs at the masthead. 
Did no one see the little fluttering rags? The 
ship tacked and stood away from them ! 

'' Our situation was now truly distressing," 
writes Mr. Glasspoole, ''night closing fast, with 
a threatening appearance, blowing fresh, with 
hard rain and a heavy sea ; our boat very leaky, 
without a compass, anchor, or provisions, and 
drifting fast on a lee-shore, surrounded with 
dangerous rocks, and inhabited by the most bar- 
barous pirates." 

That was an anxious night. It was dark, with 
constant hard squalls and heavy rain. But they 
close-reefed their sails and kept tack and tack 
until daylight, so that fortunately they had drifted 
only a little by morning. The next few daj^s 
were spent in alternate pulling and sailing, now 
in dead calms, now in heavy swells. Once they 
anchored in a secluded bay by lashing six muskets 
together. But this, of course, made their muskets 



316 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

useless, and as their ammunition was also wet, 
they had nothing left but their cutlasses for 
defence. 

Their condition was now hopeless, and Glass- 
poole decided to take the advice of their Chinese 
interpreter, who urged them to follow the leeward 
passage to Macao between the islands and the 
coast. So the cutter stood in for the inner chan- 
nel, where the water was smooth and the sailing 
easy. But they had run from one peril straight 
into the jaws of another. Before night they had 
caught sight of several suspicious looking junks, 
and had lain in hiding close under the land to 
avoid being seen. 

The next morning was clear, and the men were 
in high spirits, for a pull of two or three hours 
would carry them to Macao, and their troubles 
would be over. They were already looking for- 
w^ard to a good meal and dry clothes ; they had 
been drenched by the constant rains, and for three 
days had eaten nothing but a few green oranges. 

After rowing gayly for a couple of miles, they 
sighted a large fleet of boats at anchor under the 
opposite shore, — fishing-boats, as their Chinaman 
confidently declared. This was a chance to get 
provisions and a pilot to take them to Macao, 
so they pulled close in shore and hailed one of 
the boats. But a large rowboat was pulling after 
them ; " soon she came alongside, when about 
twenty savage-looking villains, who were stowed 



A CAPTIVE'S STORY 317 

at the bottom of the boat, leaped on board." 
They were the dreaded Ladrones ! 

The pirates were armed with a short sword in 
each hand, but seeing that Glasspoole and his men 
could make no resistance, they sheathed their 
weapons and dragged their prisoners into their 
boat, and then on board one of their junks, where 
the Englishmen were chained to the guns. 

Glasspoole was carried on board the chiefs 
vessel and taken into the august presence. The 
pirate-lord was seated on deck in a large chair, 
"dressed in purple silk, with a black turban." 
He was a large, commanding-looking man of 
about thirty. Question after question was put to 
the prisoner, but his story that they were English- 
men in distress who had been four days at sea 
without provisions, was received with doubt and 
discredit. A large ransom was put on his head, 
and he was placed under a strict guard. 

The first food besides green oranges that Glass- 
poole had tasted for several days was now put 
before him, and he made a full dinner on cater- 
pillars boiled with rice. He had a good opportu- 
nity to acquire a taste for this new diet, as it was 
his only ration for three weeks. 

While negotiations were pending for a ransom, 
Glasspoole had the pleasure of assisting at several 
piratical raids and naval battles. At that time the 
entire force of the Ladrones amounted to almost 
seventy thousand men, eight hundred large ves- 



318 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEX SHORES 

sels, and nearly a thousand small ones, under the 
chief orders of the squadron of the red. 

The division of junks that had captured the 
English cutter evidently belonged to the main 
squadron, for in the evening they weighed anchor 
and joined the admiral of the red who was lying 
with two hundred vessels under the island of 
Lantow. 

At daylight, on the 25th of September, the entire 
squadron, counting about five hundred sail, got 
under way and started on a cruise up the rivers. 
Glasspoole seems not to have especially enjoyed 
the adventure ; he was sailing hundreds of miles 
up a country never visited by Europeans, there to 
stay for months, with little chance of ever seeing 
his own people again. His spirits were at low 
tide, and he did not appreciate the rare opportu- 
nity he was having of studying pirate customs. 

As the fleet of the freebooters sailed up river 
they plundered villages, burnt houses, and laid 
large towns under contribution. They stopped 
along the way to collect tribute of money, sugar, 
rice, and roasted pigs, and when the tribute was 
not paid they held prisoners and towns at high 
ransoms. At their approach most of the villagers 
fled to the hills, leaving everything behind them 
to be pillaged, and for a month the pirates sailed 
up and down the rivers collecting booty at the 
cost of very little fighting. 

Late in October, as the fleet was dropping down- 



A CAPTIVE'S STORY 319 

stream, a swift boat arrived with the news that 
a large mandarin force was on its way up the 
river to attack the Ladrones. The chief started 
on ahead at once with fifty vessels, leaving orders 
for the rest to follow, and a big battle was ex- 
pected. But after a two hours' fight the Chinese 
lost five ships, the admiral blew up his own vessel, 
and the rest, numbering eighty-three sail, fled out 
to sea. 

So far, Glasspoole had been merely a more or 
less interested spectator ; but he was now to take 
active part and fight for the pirates. It was the 
first of November; the fleet had sailed up a narrow 
river and anchored within two miles of a small 
town. Through an interpreter the pirate chief 
commanded Glasspoole and his men to clean their 
muskets and prepare to go ashore. But the Eng- 
lishmen flatly refused, and even threats of a cruel 
death failed to move them. 

But when the chief promised to accept any sum 
offered for the ransom, and to give them each 
twenty dollars for every Chinaman's head they 
cut off, Glasspoole and his men accepted the pro- 
posal with alacrity, and cheerfully served their 
turn at the great guns. 

In the morning a force of about four thousand 
men was landed, and after a brisk cannonading 
the wall of the fort fell in. The mandarin ves- 
sels, however, which were moored out of reach of 
the pirate junks, kept up a continuous and annoy- 



320 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

ing fire. This exasperated the Ladrones, and 
about three hundred of them swam ashore, with a 
short sword lashed close under each arm ; then 
they ran along the banks of the river until they 
were abreast of the vessels, leaped into the water 
again, swam to the ships, boarded and captured 
them. 

Three days later the pirates sailed for the island 
of Lantow, where they lay anchored in the bay for 
several weeks, repairing and careening their junks. 
The work was almost finished and the ships were 
in fair fighting trim, when early one morning the 
lookout descried an immense fleet of mandarin 
vessels standing for the bay and formed in line of 
battle. 

For nine days the Chinese ships blockaded the 
pirate squadron and poured in a rain of shot. 
The Ladrones never returned the fire, but waited 
for a chance to board, towing out their vessels 
whenever a calm fell, in the hope of capturing 
some of the enemy's ships. They did, in fact, 
bring in one prize without losing any of their 
own craft, but the damage to their rigging was 
severe. 

Glasspoole had two narrow escapes during the 
fight from some twelve-pounder shots that came 
unpleasantly near, but the chief's wife frequently 
sprinkled him with garlic water, and this was 
supposed to be an effectual charm against shot. 

It was not long after this engagement that a 



A CAPTm:'S STORY 321 

letter and the ransom arrived from one of the 
Company's cruisers, and on the 7th of December 
Glasspoole and his handful of men were de- 
spatched in a gunboat to the Antelope^ where 
they had the " inexpressible pleasure of arriving," 
after a captivity of more than eleven weeks. 

In his narrative Glasspoole expresses fine scorn 
for the vaunted Chinese fleets that were sent out 
to vanquish the pirates. And no wonder, when 
the officers were paralyzed with fear, and at sight 
of the famous red squadron stood pale and be- 
wildered, huddled around the flagstaff. Want of 
order and discipline made them an easy prey, and 
every defeat only increased the power of the 
pirates. 

The Ladrones had made themselves masters of 
the sea-coast. They held the land in terror. 
In the towns consternation reigned. Old men 
crowded about the doors of the public offices ; the 
government officials were alarmed and held con- 
sultations day and night. Placards were nailed 
up on all public buildings, ordering the troops to 
hold themselves in readiness to march. All ves- 
sels were directed to remain in harbor or to return 
immediately to port. 

These active measures, taken in the hope of 
starving out the pirates, started a warfare of re- 
taliation. There being no shipping to plunder on 
the seas, and all trade having been brought to a 
standstill, the freebooters sailed up the Canton 



322 SEA-WOLYES OF SEVEN SHORES 

River and preyed upon the country side. They 
divided their fleet into four sections, and to each 
was apportioned a separate district for raiding ; 
the whole country was surrounded by a cordon ; 
seaboard and river ways were blockaded. 

Villages were burned, provisions plundered, 
and many poor villagers killed. Large numbers 
of the peasants fled to the interior ; they aban- 
doned their homes and left everything behind, 
clothes, cattle, and provisions, to fall a prey to the 
robbers. Rich booty was collected and stored in 
the pirate ships, and the depredations spread like 
a prairie fire. No one knew where or when the 
dreaded freebooters would appear next. Swiftly 
and mysteriously they came and went, like 
"vapor dispersed by the wind," like foam upon 
the sea. Suddenly their ships loomed in the 
offing or stole stealthily up-stream. In a few 
hours they were nowhere to be seen, and the 
country had been swept as by a hurricane. They 
were here, there, everywhere. In twelve days 
eight villages were raided and laid waste. 

Skilful and cunning, the pirates had many de- 
vices for gaining entrance into the villages and 
winning the confidence of the people. Their suc- 
cesses were not all won by force ; stratagem was a 
powerful weapon in their hands. One pirate would 
come disguised as an officer to take charge of the 
government guns ; another would come in a gov- 
ernment vessel as if to bring assistance to the 



A CAPTIVE'S STORY 323 

village; another pretended to be a pedler and sold 
his wares in the streets while he gathered infor- 
mation. Then on a sudden there was a signal, a 
rush, a fierce attack, a bewildered resistance, and 
the pirates were in possession. 

Some of the villagers made a brave stand ; the-y 
threw up fences and palisades, dragged their big 
guns behind them, and sometimes met craft with 
craft. At Tung Kwan they laid an ambuscade 
and decoyed the pirates into it. Taken by sur- 
prise the outlaws were thrown into confusion and 
fled precipitately. The villagers pursued them to 
the water's edge, killed a large number, and cap- 
tured three of their vessels. 

But in most cases the brave resistance availed 
little ; the overwhelming numbers of the pirates 
carried everything before them. Their fleet had 
increased with their captures, and five hundred 
vessels now sailed arrogantly up and down the 
coast under the command of Mistress Ching. 
The different districts were divided between the 
squadrons, and their power extended east and 
west. 

Several fierce engagements took place. The 
inhabitants of one village assembled in force 
behind their wall and fired upon the advancing 
line, but the pirates threw themselves upon the 
ground, and the shots passed harmlessly over 
their heads. Before the gunners could reload, 
the pirates sprang up with a wild yell and 



324 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

stormed the fortifications, driving back the de- 
fenders. The people then took refuge in the 
citadel where a thousand men fought with such 
desperation that the pirates were forced to 
withdraw. 

The next attack was on the citadel of Lau 
Shih, where the commanding officer had erected 
strong defences and was prepared for a plucky- 
resistance. The place was carried, and the gov- 
ernment officer killed, but so distinguished had 
been his bravery that a temple was afterward 
erected to him, and his memory was yearly 
honored by a display of fireworks ! 

Even the wives of the Chinese officers fought 
valiantly by the side of their husbands, and often 
fell in battle mortally wounded. Many acts of 
prowess on the part of both men and women are 
reported by the Chinese chronicler as having at 
least shed the light of heroism over those troub- 
lous and bloody times. 



CHAPTER XXIX 
THE BATTLE OF THE RED AND THE BLACK 

The pirates had now become a serious national 
pest. Their audacity knew no bounds. They 
even went so far as to attack the convoy of ships 
that brought the yearly tribute-money from Siam, 
and the government officers were driven to make 
renewed efforts to break their disgraceful bonds. 

Toward the close of 1809, Admiral Tsuen 
mustered about eighty vessels to defend the 
mouth of the Canton River. Mistress Ching, who 
was kept well informed of the admiral's move- 
ments, issued general orders to her fleet. Every 
vessel of the different flags was to meet outside 
the bar and prepare for a night attack. At the 
first watch the cannon began to boom, and all 
through the night the roaring of the guns could 
be heard along the shores. When day dawned 
the firing ceased, to be renewed again when dark- 
ness covered the waters. 

The hills behind the villages were thronged 
with people, who watched the fight with breath- 
less interest. Tlie surf dashed against the rocks, 
bits of floating wreckage covered the sea ; the 

325 



326 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

air was thick with flying bullets, and the boom- 
ing of the guns reechoed dismally from the hills. 
Birds and beasts started from their coverts in 
alarm. 

On the second night the government squadron 
was thrown into disorder and overpowered ; four 
vessels were destroyed, and the admiral set fire 
to his own ship and perished with all on board 
rather than fall into the hands of the captors. 
The pirates were now masters of the outer and 
inner channels, and advanced up the river. The 
boat-people — that peculiar and outcast race who 
live on the water in their floating houses — fled 
to the towns for refuge, carrying their boats witli 
them. The citizens fortified themselves behind 
intrenchments. But it was an uneven contest. 
The pirates prevailed and took everything by 
storm. 

Frequent skirmishes between the pirates and 
the government fleets, which were often a hun- 
dred ships strong, always resulted in the discom- 
fiture of the regular navy; but the end of the 
freebooters was near at hand, and their undoing 
came from within, not from without. What no 
enemy could accomplish by force was brought 
about by seditions in their own ranks. There 
had long been a feud between Captain Paou and 
the "Lustre of Instruction." The chief of the 
black flag, racked with jealousy of the powerful 
leader of the red, would have been glad to see 



THE BATTLE OF THE RED AND BLACK 327 

the ruin of his hated rivah Their mutual respect 
for Mistress Ching had alone kept them from open 
hostility. But the moment came when O po tae 
could do his enemy a bad turn and he took advan- 
tage of it. 

Captain Paou had collected his forces at a. 
station off the coast, not far from Canton. It 
was a place favorable for an attack, and Admiral 
Tsuen promptly laid his plans to surround the 
pirates and hold them in a trap. Hastily collect- 
ing a fleet of a hundred vessels, and aided by 
some Portuguese ships, he spread out his lines 
and formed a cordon around the island. For 
three days and nights the opposing forces fought 
with energy and with varying success, neither 
side gaining a decided advantage. 

Then Admiral Tsuen called a council of war 
and laid before it his plan. His proposition was 
to send to the city of Canton for large reenforce- 
ments, and to prepare fire-ships to break up the 
enemy's line. All the commanders and officers 
of the fleet were ordered to meet at a prescribed 
point to form a close blockade of the island and 
cut off the supplies of provisions and arms. 
Twenty-five ships were filled with gunpowder, 
nitre, and other combustibles ; they were to be 
set on fire by a match at the stern. 

All the arrangements having been fully carried 
out, and a land attack planned to make a diver- 
sion and deceive the enemy. Admiral Tsuen waited 



328 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

anxiously for a favorable wind. On the fourth 
day a fresh breeze sprang up from the northwest, 
the fire-ships were set adrift on the water, and in 
a moment were wrapped in a fierce blaze. Slowly 
they were driven by the wind toward the intrench- 
ments of the pirates, but as they neared the coast 
the wind suddenly fell; the high mountains of 
the island had cut off the current. 

Although the fire-ships could not reach the 
land, the pirate vessels were in imminent danger. 
Two caught fire, and the flames leaped up the 
sails and rigging. Captain Paou, however, had 
prepared himself for this attack. Every vessel 
was provided with long bars, on the end of which 
were attached great pincers. With these the 
pirates caught hold of the fire-ships as they ap- 
proached and shoved them off. 

But Captain Paou began to be alarmed at his 
situation. For the first time in his career he 
doubted his own strength and ability to withstand 
the enemy. Knowing that his rival, the leader of 
the black flag, was at a station not far away, he 
sent a messenger with orders to O po tae to sail 
immediately to his relief. Anxiously the pirates 
scanned the horizon for a friendly sail ; hour after 
hour passed and still no squadron of relief could 
be descried in the distance. Then the truth 
began to dawn upon Captain Paou; the squad- 
ron of the black had deserted him and left him 
to his fate ; O po tae had deliberately disobeyed 



THE BATTLE OF THE RED AND BLACK 329 

the orders of his chief. Boiling with rage and 
vowing vengeance on his rival, he determined 
that if ever he should escape from his present 
position, he would make the leader of the black 
feel the full weight of his displeasure. 

Captain Paou in his hour of distress now ap- 
pealed to the " Spirit of the three old Mothers " 
to prophesy his fate, and he cast lots in the 
temple. The lots came out against fighting, but 
strongly in favor of breaking the blockade, and 
with renewed hope he determined to make the 
attempt. 

The next morning at daylight a southerly wind 
sprang up, and preparations were eagerly made 
for a start. All was activity and energy in the 
harbor; sails were spread and anchors weighed. 
Toward noon the wind freshened still more, 
and blew strongly from the south ; the waves, 
too, began to rise, and the sea looked rough 
and threatening. When darkness fell, the whole 
pirate fleet was under way. Bearing down full 
sail on the enemy's line, they dashed through it, 
and made for the open sea with the loss of only 
ten leaky boats. 

Admiral Tsuen, taken by surprise and being 
entirely unprepared, had offered only slight re- 
sistance, but on the following morning he gathered 
his fleet together and dashed in pursuit of the 
pirates. After a search of several days he came 
upon them and bore down to the attack. The 



330 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

pirates had spread out their line in a half circle, 
and now attempted to surround the government 
fleet. A lively brush of two hours ended in the dis- 
comfiture of the freebooters who lost three ships. 
Captain Paou called his fleet out of action and 
retreated to sea, but in the dead of night he sud- 
denly returned, roused the enemy from their 
sleep, fell upon them with vigor, and succeeded 
in burning two vessels and capturing three. 

Having thus disposed of Admiral Tsuen and 
having no longer any fear of being attacked from 
that quarter for the present. Captain Paou was 
eager to reckon his account with the leader of the 
black squadron. In his anger he cared not that 
his forces were small and that the larger part 
of the fleet was cruising under Mistress Ching. 
He went headlong in pursuit of his rival, found 
him, upbraided him for his treachery, and fell 
upon him with reckless haste. But O po tae's 
squadron was far superior in numbers and was 
in better condition. His men were fresh, and his 
ships in good repair. 

With heavy odds against him Captain Paou 
made an energetic onslaught, but he was repulsed 
and his ships badly damaged. The fight ended in 
a severe defeat for the squadron of the red, and 
Captain Paou retreated after having lost sixteen 
vessels and three hundred men. 

The victory of the black was transient. They 
knew that Captain Paou would return with over- 



THE BATTLE OF THE RED AND BLACK 331 

powering numbers and would sweep them from 
the sea. They would be one to ten, and their 
annihilation would be inevitable. Some means 
must be discovered to thwart this fate, and a gen- 
eral council was held, to consult on what course 
to adopt. One of the pirates rose and proposed 
amid much opposition that they should make their 
submission to the government. Official placards, 
he declared, had been posted up in all public 
places, inviting them to surrender, and offering 
pardon and even recompense. They had fought 
the mighty squadron of the red, and that would be 
an added plea for mercy. 

O po tae was of the same opinion, and after a 
heated discussion it was agreed to send a petition 
to the governor-general. The act of submission 
was couched in flowery language. It explained 
at length why this great band of outlaws had 
adopted the profession of piracy: some had joined 
the ranks because they could not agree with their 
relations, others because they could not make a 
living; some had lost their property, others fled 
from justice. In this way the numbers had grown 
to hundreds and thousands, and even to tens of 
thousands. It was natural that such a multitude 
in want of their daily bread should resort to 
plunder ; it was from necessity that the laws of 
the empire had been violated. 

After this plausible explanation of piracy, the 
petition continued in a poetic strain to describe 



332 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 



the uncertainty and danger of the Ladrone's life. 
In wind, rain, and storm, on river, sea, or land, 
they must everywhere be prepared to fight. 
^^ Whether we went to the east, or to the west, 
and after all the hardships of the sea, the night 
dew was our only dwelling, and the rude wind our 
meal." The petition ended with a final appeal to 
the compassion of the government toward those 
who were deserving of death. 

The government was overjoyed. The chief 
officers met together at Canton and under the 
direction of the governor-general drew up an 
agreement. The submission of the pirates was 
accepted with the stipulation that the pirate ships 
should be assembled in the open sea off the town 
of Kwei, and the surrender made by O po tae to 
the governor-general. The conditions were com- 
plied with. A hundred and twenty-six vessels, 
eight thousand men, five hundred large guns, and 
five thousand six hundred weapons were handed 
over to the governor. Two towns were appor- 
tioned to the reformed pirates, and their chief 
was made an officer of inferior rank. 

This was the death-knell of piracy on a grand 
scale in the China seas. The people of the sea- 
coast rejoiced, and the country began to assume 
a new appearance. Men " sold their arms and 
bought oxen to plough their fields" ; they burned 
sacrifices, said prayers on the hilltops, and sang 
in their houses. 



THE BATTLE OF THE RED AND BLACK 333 

Mistress Ching began to ponder on the chances 
that the future held in store for her. She was 
perhaps growing tired of her life of wild adven- 
ture and peril. She saw that the leader of the 
black squadron had been made a government 
officer and was living in safety and ease. '' I ain 
ten times stronger than O po tae," she said to 
herself, and secretly hoped, no doubt, that her 
reward would be ten times greater. But still she 
hesitated. Rumors began to spread, however, 
that the red squadron was not averse to submis- 
sion, and the government took advantage of this 
opening to send an emissary to Captain Paou. 

The bold and masterful leader of the red, who 
had been victorious in scores of fights and had 
commanded his fleets with brilliant success, was 
not in favor of meek surrender. After a long 
and friendly discussion he remained unconvinced. 
But Mistress Ching had been won over to the 
side of peace. She recommended submission, and 
her word was law. Captain Paou agreed to 
gather his vessels outside the Bocca Tigris and 
receive the governor. 

It was a large array of pirate vessels that col- 
lected off the coast, and it required no small amount 
of courage to trust one's self to their honor. As 
the governor's boat sailed out to meet them, he 
was greeted by the hoisting of flags, the firing 
of guns, and the sound of music. Captain Paou, 
accompanied by Mistress Ching and other promi- 



334 SEA-WOLVES OF SEVEN SHORES 

nent pirate leaders, boarded the governor's ship, 
and throwing themselves on their knees before 
him, they implored pardon and protection. This 
was graciously and only too gladly granted, 
and, soon after, the pirate ships, laden with pork 
and wine, were brought into harbor. Those who 
so wished were allow^ed to join the military force 
of the government, the rest could disperse and 
settle in the country. 

Captain Paou was given the rank of major. 
Unfortunately the Chinese chronicler does not tell 
us what became of that resolute pirate queen. 
Mistress Ching, and we are left in entire igno- 
rance of her fate. 

The governor-general, who had been the instru- 
ment of this happy submission, was generously 
rewarded. He was given a title, created a second- 
ary guardian of the Prince, and allowed to wear 
''peacock's feathers with two eyes." 

After the submission of the two powerful squad- 
rons of the red and the black, the remaining 
pirates were easily subdued or destroyed. The 
yellow, the green, and the blue were successively 
vanquished, and the rest gradually swept from off 
the seas. 

" From that period till now ships pass and re- 
pass in tranquillity. All is quiet on the rivers, 
the four seas are tranquil, and people live in peace 
and plenty." 



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